Shall we dance?
by Uncourteouslydyed
Summary: When Jade teaches Cat how to dance, things escalate into headache and heartache, not to mention confusion, for the both of them.
1. Chapter 1

Jade and Cat weren't the likely kind to be set up together. Two girls with two completely different personalities. But the school had needed volunteers for the preparations for the dance. Cat had cheerfully volunteered and Jade had been lumped with her by no choice, no matter how much she protested. They were at Cat's house in her living room, just finishing up the decorations and Cat had suddenly said that she was a little shy at dancing. Jade was taken aback in mock shock. True that when Cat danced, it looked awkward but she looked like she was having fun. And everyone had fun with her. According to people, her energy made them want to have fun too. Jade was a little sympathetic. She scrunched up her fists and bit her lower lip, thinking if she would regret this.

"Well alright," She walked over to the stereo and flipped on the radio. She paused when she heard the song playing. She was going to change it when she heard Cat squeal and clap her hands. "They played this last time!"

Jade hesitated a moment then shrugged her eyebrows in dismissal at the radio and walked over to Cat. "Now, all you have to do is feel the music."

"But I didn't dance to this one… and, and this isn't your type of music, Jade."

Jade rolled her eyes and stopped to give her an exasperated, annoyed look. Cat quickly drew in a breath and shook her red head.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm listening!"

Jade blew out her breath. "Okay, just like you have fun at the party, just try to think about the music and let it move you. Basically," Jade demonstrated a few moves and Cat was watching her feet with great attention. Jade shook her head and made Cat look up. "No, no, just try to move on your own. That way I can see what needs fixing. Try it."

Cat was a little slow moving and the music was a little faster than she was going. But soon she was imitating Jade and they danced circles around each other. Their backs faced each other for two seconds and when Cat came into Jade's view again she found her smiling at her. Jade nodded in approval. "There, see? Not bad."

Cat's smile grew wider and she found a spring in her moves now. She was feeling the music and this time she was having fun knowing that she was doing it right. "I love this song!" Jade rolled her eyes but smiled at the same time. She watched Cat's frilly purple dress twirl around her and the way she moved her hands. Cat was smiling the entire time, her dimple showing. Jade stopped dancing and stood with her arms crossed, nodding to the beat of the song as she kept her eyes on Cat's movements. Cat was shrugging up her shoulders and swaying her waist, doing a few twirls when the song called for it. She bobbed up and down making her red hair tumble on her bare shoulders.

There was one part of the song where Jade reached out her hand and smiling Cat took it and Jade twirled her in a pretty little pirouette. Jade threw her away from herself; hands still attached and twirled her back. Cat had gathered so much momentum that when she was pulled back in, she went crashing into Jade, tumbling them both onto the couch hard.

"Ow! Cat! That was too fast! That hurt!" Jade shouted over Cat's head, cursing as she tried to sit up and push Cat off.

"I'm sorry! I got dizzy! I couldn't see!" Cat quickly stumbled back off of Jade and onto the carpet. She shook her head to clear it. Jade rubbed her shoulder where Cat had slammed into her. She sighed and picked up a water bottle and gave it to Cat. "Here."

Cat looked up with her eyebrows furrowed and accepted the bottle with a thankful nod. Jade got up and groaned, rolling her shoulder. "You're a menace Kitty Cat," she said with a hiss. Cat stood up slowly and wobbled a few steps towards Jade. "Did I hurt you really bad?"

"I'm fine…" Jade hadn't expected Cat to be up in her face. Big brown eyes staring at her. Jade took a step back and ran a hand through her hair. "I'll live. It's getting late now, maybe I should go. Your parents should be home soon right?"

Cat only shrugged and looked around the room, pursing her lips. The radio was still playing greatest hits. Then a song came on that allowed slow dancing. Cat hopped over to Jade as she was gathering her things, stuffing them into her bag and holstered it over her shoulder. When she turned around, once again Cat was in her face. She darted her head back. Cat mockingly spread her arms in a ballroom stance and deepened her voice. "Shall we dance?"

Jade stared at her emotionless, but Cat wouldn't stop smiling. "No," Jade said simply and walked past her towards the door. Cat dropped her arms, slapping her hands to her sides, turning around. "But I'm good at this one!"

Jade paused, turned to look over her shoulder. "I'll see you at the dance Kitty Cat. Night."

The upcoming Friday that night the dance was well underway by the time Jade and Beck got there. As they entered they were looking around at the balloons and lighting, amazed at how good it came out. They went to greet the rest of the crew. Andre and Tori were dancing with Robbie watching them. They all stopped to chat up Beck and Jade when they joined them. Jade wondered where Cat was and as soon as she mentioned it, she heard giggling on the dance floor over the music. Cat was dancing with three boys who were all having a good time with her goofy moves. Then Jade saw her think for a second and actually listened to the music and began to move to the beat. Jade nodded with an approving look that most teachers gave their students who succeed. After a few minutes Beck went to get her a drink and all of the sudden a slow song started. Cat was seemingly having trouble choosing who to dance with. Two of the boys were coaxing her to dance with them instead of the other, perplexing her with choices.

Jade strode up and tapped her on the shoulder. Cat turned, surprised to see her, greeting her with a vibrant smile. Jade mockingly spread her arms in a ballroom stance and deepened her voice to sound manly with a grin on her face. "Shall we dance?"

Cat then smiled and also deepened her voice, "Why I'd love to." Both laughing, they took their positions. Jade leaded, making Cat twirl out and in. Cat was careful not to get too carried away. She was too busy smiling at Jade as she was pulled back into her arms. They swayed together, the hems of their dresses being squished against their thighs. Jade eventually lost her smile and just stared down at Cat with soft but cool eyes. Cat's smile wasn't as wide anymore but she still kept smiling up at Jade. Jade moved them forward then back again, swaying their hips and raising Cat's hand to rest on her shoulder so that she could hold her waist. There was no one in the room according to them. They were in their own world. Still dancing to who knows what beat, they stayed glued to each other. Jade lowered her head to touch Cat's forehead with hers, gently gazing into her chocolate eyes. Cat had stopped smiling entirely now and only staring up her, biting her lower lip. Jade glanced down at her strawberry lips and noticed how inviting they were.

Jade realized her grip had tightened on Cat's waist, pulling her intensely close and her heart was in her throat. Cat was amused by this; just a day ago Jade had been dismissive and cold and now it seemed that she needed Cat to warm her up. Cat obliged and smiled teasingly at her, tilting her head to the side. That small movement broke the spell and Jade let go of Cat quickly when she realized the song was long over. A fast song had taken its place and a few people were staring at them, while others still danced not caring at all.

Jade looked around with sharp movements of her head, as if just realizing where she was. _Had she been dreaming?_

"Jade, what's wrong?"

Jade looked back at Cat, suddenly aware she was in front of her. "Huh? Oh…"

Jade took a few steps back. "I should go… I should go." She hastily left Cat confused on the dance floor, exiting the hall and out of the building. Beck followed her, grabbing her wrist. "Jade what's going on?" Jade wrenched her wrist free but stopped in her tracks at seeing her boyfriend's face. "Nothing, I just feel sick all of the sudden." She wrapped her arms around her stomach as the butterflies only got more fluttery at the thought of Cat's smile. Beck looked at her carefully and gently guided her to the car. "I'll take you home." Jade nodded in agreement.

On the ride home they were quiet the whole way. Jade kept staring out the window, sinking into her seat; the radio was on low to break the silence. Beck kept glancing over at Jade, concern on his face. When they arrived at Jade's house, he offered to take her to the door. She declined saying she was fine and would see him on Monday. Rushing through her front door, she avoided her parents, who asked why she was home early. She rushed into her bedroom and closed the door, saw her bed and threw herself on it. She lay on her back still in her dress with an arm slung over her face. _What just happened_?

Suddenly Cat's happy face, as she danced, sprung into her mind and she groaned in annoyance. She rolled on her side. "Go away," she grumbled as she started to feel drowsy.

_ "I won't. Tell me what's wrong_ Jade."

Jade's eyes sprang open and she bolted upright. But no one was in the room. _Did she just imagine Cat's voice?_

"Great, now I'm schizophrenic. Damnit," she hissed under her breath, tossing herself back on the bed.


	2. Chapter 2

Monday morning, Jade tried her best to avoid Cat. When she walked in arm in arm with Beck and saw Cat on the other end of the hall, Jade would unhook herself from Beck and make a sharp turn back where she came from. Leaving a perplexed Beck to answer to Cat. She waved at him and smiled as she walked over to him. "Hi Beck! Was that Jade?"

"Looks like she forgot something, I guess," he said putting his hands in his pockets. "So what's up?"

Cat played with her ends, "I was wondering about the play you had written for us. I lost mine. Well more that my hamster ate it. Do you have another copy?"

Beck stared at her. "Your hamster?"

"Mhm, he likes plays. I soon as I told him it was a play I knew it was all lost. Never leave your homework by a hamsters cage." Cat said with a sage nod as if what she was saying was wise advice.

Beck nodded with tight lips. "Okay, well, I'll go print you one. I'll give it to you in class."

"Yaaay! Thank you!" Cat said cheerfully. Beck nodded and excused himself to go to the library.

Just then Jade came around with a cup of coffee put to her lips.  
"Hiiiiii Jaaaaade!" Cat called a few feet away. Jade saw her and coffee spurt out of her mouth in surprise. Cat was still in the same hallway! Why didn't she pick a different route! "Uh, hi." she said wiping her chin.

Suddenly the bell rang for first period. Saved by the bell! Jade and Cat hurried over to the next class, Cat right beside her trying her best to talk to her while Jade kept grimacing and trying to drink her coffee, trying to block her out.

In class they had to do improv exercises which got a lot of the students excited. Cat turned around in her seat to look at Jade who was texting. "I call dibs on Jade!"

"Good. Jade and Cat, you two pair up," instructed, seemingly never without a coconut in his hands.

Jade not paying attention to the class, snapped her head up when she heard her name and Cat's. Suddenly her stomach was hurting again. _Oh no!_

"Jade get over here and we'll sta-"

"NO!" Jade jumped up from her seat and was surprised herself by the intensity of the shout. "I … I need to go to the nurses office…" she said after a few seconds, grabbing her stomach.

"Okay… Cat will you escort Jade to the -"

"Tori!" Tori leapt in her skin by the shout. "Tori can take me."

Everyone looked at each other. Jade must be really be sick to have Tori help her out. Tori was just as confused and when she looked at Jade's smoldering green eyes she knew she had little time to comply.

"Uh, okay!" Tori grabbed her things and quickly followed Jade out into the hall. They were quiet as they walked side by side.

"This is odd for you Jade. I mean you rarely get upset stomaches. Maybe it was something you ate? Andre was in here earlier about -"

Jade stopped in her tracks, cutting Tori short. "Go back Tori, I got it from here."

"But Mr. Sikowitz just -"

"I'm fine." Jade said with a stern tone, eyes unwavering. It took the other girl a second.

"I knew something was up," she accused, jutting a finger at her. "You don't fool me!"

Jade gave an exasperated sigh and looked away from her.

"Does this have to do anything with Cat?"

"No."

"Beck then."

"What!? No!"

"Jade!"

Jade ran a hand through her hair with a sigh. "I'm not sure myself. Maybe I just need to lie down. Just haven't been feeling like myself lately. It has to do with me, no one else. Go back to class. Tell the teach I'll be fine."

Tori stood a few moments with her arms crossed, seizing Jade up with her eyes. "Fine. Feel better." Then she turned on her heels and left her in the hallway. Jade waited until the girl was out of sight. She turned around and walked past the nurses office.

At lunch they were all in the lounge area. Beck was sitting on the couch and Jade was sitting across his lap with her face buried in his neck, her dark hair falling over her face. He rubbed her back gently and rubbed her thigh over her tight black leggings. Her combat boots dug into the cushion next to him. She had her friends sympathy but she was not acknowledging them. When Cat joined them with her cheery voice, Jade's heart stopped beating for a second and she moved. Beck felt her flinch and rubbed her back, wondering if Cat's loud voice had bothered her. Cat hushed up and lowered her tone. "Sooooorry."

"How she feeling?" She whispered to Beck. He shook his head. "Feel better Jade," Beck nodded at her for Jade with a sympathetic smile.

"Wow. Jade must be catching something. She better not be contagious, we have that dance performance contest next week."

That made Jade slowly raise her head. "Ohhh trust me if I was contagious, you'd be the first to find out" she said more in a groan. Beck helped her settle back in, wrapping his arms around her. Jade now faced the group and gave a small smile showing that she meant no harm with her remark. She wasn't acting too differently now. Cat was smiling at her, giving a little wave. Jade nodded in response. "Would you like some water?" Cat offered it to Jade. Jade nodded and Beck reached over to take it and gave it to Jade.

"So," Andre started the conversation again. "That dance competition thing. Is the whole school taking part?"

"Cat who you pairing up with?"

"Ohhh I don't know. Whoever asks me first I guess." In that instant Robbie's eyes lit up and before he got a chance to speak, Rex spoke. "Ohhhh you wanna get down with that?"

Tori looked at Andre. "I'm yours if you'll take me." Andre grinned and nodded, making his dreads bounce. Beck motioned to Jade who was relaxing back against his chest, eyeing everyone.

"Okay, I'm done." Jade got up from Beck's lap and stood up, grabbing her bag. She leaned over and kissed Beck on the lips and gave everyone else a dismissive wave.

The next few periods, Cat kept trying to talk to Jade, but Jade either had her earphones in, blaring loud music or she was walking too fast. "Okay! I see you're busy!" she shouted after her. Cat wrung out her hands not knowing what to do with herself.  
The last class of the day, Cat sat at the foot of her locker in the hall where Jade usually walked by to get to her next class. Jade was looking at her book and nearly walked past Cat but red head latched onto her leg and was dragged along a few feet. Jade teeter tottered to a stop with a few hops. She looked down at Cat with murderous eyes.

"Cat! What the hell!?"

"You need to talk to me!"

"I have nothing to say to you!"

"You're lying! You're avoiding me and that's not fair! Tell me what's going on!"

"You want to know what's going on?" Jade said loudly. "You really want to know?" Cat nodded eagerly and rose to her feet, eyes expectant. "Well here it is."

"Robbie has a crush on you," Jade blurted out. Cat eyes widened and her head jerked back.

"What?"

_**It just keeps rolling out as I write these on my lunch breaks lol**_


	3. Chapter 3

Jade hadn't meant to say that. At all. She was even shocked herself when the words spilt out. She had planned to tell her everything she had been feeling, the sleepless nights, and the butterflies in her stomach, the loss of appetite and not returning Beck's calls, all because of this innocent little human. But Robbie was the first thing that popped into her head? She basically threw the boy's chances down the well of the abyss.

"Ohhhh…" Cat looked down at her hands, playing with her pinkie. "Really?" She furrowed her eyebrows and pursed her pink lips that Jade was now watching. _Why the hell was she always staring at her lips?!_ Cat started playing with her ends again and bit her bottom lip. Jade had had enough. If she stood any longer she was going to regret her next actions. She swallowed hard. "I'm sorry," she said hoarsely and quickly left Cat alone, as usual.

At lunch the next day, everyone sat in their usual spots, chatting about the latest things. When one of them asked where Robbie was, Cat threw herself under the table. Everyone looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Surely it wasn't too unusual, but, right now?

"Cat, honey. What are you doing?" Tori asked, looking under the table. Cat was on her hands and knees. She quickly scanned the ground with her hands. "I… just…uh, lost my glasses!"

"You don't wear glasses," Andre said.

"Oh, right," Cat replied with a nervous giggle. She crawled out from under the table and sat again back in her seat and started nibbling her salad as if nothing had just happened. After a few shrugs everyone else continued on with their chat.

"Speaking of weird, does anyone know what's gotten into Jade all of the sudden? Beck, do you know anything?"

Beck only shook his head as he reached for the nachos in front of him. "She just keeps getting stomaches. Hope it's nothing serious."

"Is it maybe…" Andre looked at the girls across from him. "You know…"

Getting the hint Tori and Cat glanced at each other. Cat knew Jade better. Cat only shook her head. "No, it has to be something else. I asked her what was wrong when she told me that …augh!" Cat quickly silenced herself by stuffing lettuce into her mouth.

"Told you what?" Beck urged. Cat shook her head and said something purposely muffled.

"Cat! Chew your food!" Tori scolded the red head and tried to pull out the lettuce from her mouth. "Ew! Cat, what are you a rabbit?" Cat started giggling.

"What are you guys doing?" Jade's cool voice came from behind Beck. They all turned with smiles. "Heeeey, feeling better?"

"Well enough." Beck moved over to let her sit at his side. "Hey, have you seen Robbie?"

Jade nodded and casually ate off Beck's plate. "Yeeaap, he's on cleanup duty. He was caught into volunteering and we all know what a sweetheart (loser) he can be."

Cat forced a smile as everyone started chatting up again. Cat didn't say anything, just stared at her plate, quietly, once in a while shuffling her food with her fork. Jade watched her from across the table. Cat looked down. Was it because she had said Robbie liked Cat? She thought maybe that would cheer her up but it was true that Cat had not been overjoyed with the "news".

Before 3rd period, Cat was grabbing a few things from her locker when she suddenly heard Jade and Robbie's voice. She looked around frantically for a place to hide and quickly skittered into the janitor's closet.

Jade had bumped into the boy in the hallway. Seeing as his hands were full, he requested her to open up the janitor's closet for him. She was helping him get a few things to carry, so he didn't have to keep going back and forth.

"Just a mop?" Jade asked when she reached for the door's handle. The door swung open a crack and a hand thrust out a mop. Jade stared at it in confusion then took it when she realized it was Cat by the bracelets on the wrist, she was hiding inside and most likely didn't want to be discovered. By Robbie?

"Here, have fun," she turned and gave Robbie the mop. He thanked her and was on his way.

Jade then turned to the closet and crossed her arms. "Cat."

"Occupied!" a shrill voice came from inside.

"You're not in the bathroom!" Jade shouted, she snatched the door open and found Cat cringing in the corner, hiding her face. "Friend or foe!"

"Damnit Cat!"

At hearing Jade's tone, Cat looked up and saw her. "Robbie?" Jade shook her head.

"I sent him on his way. Were you hiding from him?"

Cat slowly stood up, ruffling her dress. "Um yea… funny how when you find out people have feelings for you and you run away and try to avoid them," she said with an uneasy laugh.

"Yea…" Jade pursed her lips, "hilarious."

"Do you not like Robbie?"

"I…I-I see him as a friend and I really can't picture us together. I mean what would our kids be like? All this stuff keeps popping into my-"

"Whoa, kitty cat. Whoa. A little ahead of yourself." Jade bade her to come out of the closet and to sit on the bench to listen to her. Cat followed and pulled her skirt from behind her thighs to hold tight as she sat down beside Jade. Jade was looking intently at her.

Cat gave a tight smile, shrugging. "He's sweet and I'm sweet, I need someone with contrast."

Jade eyebrows narrowed in confusion for a split second. "Contrast?"

"Yea, kinda like you Jade."

_Damnit don't say crap like that_. Jade swallowed hard and tried not to look her in the eye. Cat seemed to be really taxing herself over the Robbie issue. She had no idea this would happen. She looked away down the hallway to see if anyone was coming. She turned to Cat to find her looking at her in wonder.

"Listen Cat…" She had to fix this. "It's just a rumor." Well it was true that he was gung-ho on Cat but he never said anything. Just the way he looked at her was the clue she got from it. But to throw it in Cat's face and throwing Robbie under the bus just to defend herself seemed petty.

"You're not the type to spread rumors Jade. Are you sure there's nothing else?"

Jade side bit her lip, she quickly avoided the question. "You know a lot of guys find you cute, you should get a boyfriend. That way Robbie will back off, if that is your major concern that is." Jade's concern was to get Cat distracted so Jade wouldn't notice her.

Cat sat a moment in silence, raising her eyebrows as she looked at the ceiling. "Hmm," she tilted her head to the side. She would do this cute thing where she would purse her lips and play with the ends of her hair when she was thinking. If you didn't snap her out of it she would start to think about other things in that exact minute. That's how flighty she was. Jade took in a deep breath and stood up.

"Well! I'll leave that to you, I need to go find Beck since I missed class. Think about what I said. There's someone in this school for you Cat." _Let it be soon!_

"Kay Kay," Cat smiled and waved at her as she turned to leave.

The last class Cat had someone she was gushing about. His name was Tom. She met him in theatre class at the beginning of the semester. He had been watching Cat with interest since he laid eyes on her and introduced himself. Cat, with no need of a boyfriend, had never really paid attention to him, until now. He asked her out and she readily accepted. He was nice and bright and said smart things. They had been paired up once and he seemed quite adamant, if not patient, in asking her out. He had come up to her, rubbing his sweaty palms and asked her about the weather. Before Cat could answer him by checking the weather on her pear phone, he quickly said that he thought she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. Cat taken amiss, thanked him with her bright smiles, saying he was sweet and then he proceeded to ask her if she would be interested in seeing a movie with him.

By the end of the day they were holding hands and he was carrying her things.

Cat met Jade and the crew in the hallway. "Hi guys! You remember Tommy?"

"It's actually just Tom," Tom said with a quirky smile. Everyone said their greetings and Cat was explaining to them what he did. But Jade was not listening, she was staring Tom down with her icy glare. _Was this the guy she had picked? _And when Cat verified that they were dating, Jade drew in a breath and forced a smile. It was technically what she wanted. Careful what you wish for indeed.

"Well," she said loudly and everyone hushed. "Be nice." Was all she said before she walked off. Tom asked if anything was wrong. She overheard Cat's giggle, "Noooo, Jade's always like that. She's my spirit animal." She said with a hop in her step as she leaded him away, waving bye to her friends. Tori stood and watched it all. She had detected from the little "meeting" that Jade was miffed. About what though? Jade had Beck and now Cat had someone she could cling to. Shouldn't everyone just be happy?

Andre nodded with a smile. "Well alright. Little Red's growing up." Robbie however looked mortified. Tori shrugged with a tight smile. "We'll see I guess. Relax Robbie. He isn't her type. For now."

She was sure something else was going on and she was going to find out what.


	4. Chapter 4

Beck lowered the phone from his ear and looked at it with a frown. He called Jade three times now, once every hour. She was not picking up. Where could she be?

Jade was in turmoil. She had spent the last few hours pacing her room with her scissors in hand. She had thought about Cat dating another guy. It was fine. It should be fine. But why wasn't it? Instead of relief Jade had felt a knot of jealousy twisting her stomach. She had thrown up when she got home. And now she was pacing back and forth, ignoring the phone. Whenever it wasn't Cat she'd ignore it, grabbing her head. She kept saying over and over that finally she could move on with Cat not being readily available anymore. It should stop these feelings, but why didn't it? She felt so frustrated and angry with herself.

She loved Beck. They had been together for a long while, been through so much. He was always there for her and when she'd overtake him with jealousy or any angry outburst he was there to calm her down. She loved Beck.

Then there was Cat. Sweet, naive, and bubbly, whom didn't need protection but everyone turned into a knight when anything troubled her. Jade had wanted to be that Knight. Many a times Jade had come to Cat's rescue. It was natural; she never really gave it another thought. Her and Cat went back since way back. They had had a gap in between as they were growing up and now Cat was in the same school as Jade and far more appealing to everyone. Jade clenched her scissors. She would cut anyone down. Cat was hers!

Quickly she tried to calm down. Cat didn't belong to anyone. Cat belongs to herself and to anyone she gives herself too. Suddenly images of Cat kissing and being touched by another guy broke her down. She slumped to the edge of her bed and cried bitterly. She threw back her head and let out a long wail of pain, tears streaming down her eyes, making dark streaks from her makeup make sharp lines on her cheekbones. She rose to her feet and plunged the scissors down into the bed, hacking and slashing the comforter and pillows as she cried, angrily shouting at nothing.

She didn't sleep at all that night. She cried all night. Curled up, sobbing into her knees, hiccupping as she tried to calm down. She looked up at the clock and saw that it was 8:12 am. She shuddered a sigh, she debated not going to school. But she had to demonstrate a song she had been working on from a few days ago and was due today at 3rd period. She looked at the clock again and decided to go in at 3rd period and miss the morning classes. She sighed and lay down on her torn up bed. It reminded her of Cat's hamster when Cat would give him a tissue to tear up and snuggle in. Again with her eyes beaded in tears, she drifted into a deep sleep.

Tori was curious why Jade wasn't in school. She wasn't in two of the morning classes. They all usually met in the hallway to talk. She asked Beck. He didn't seem to know, even telling her that he had tried to call her last night and her not showing up for school was worrisome. Cat overheard and walked over with her eyebrows furrowed. "Where's jade?"

Beck pulled Cat aside, gently wrapping an arm around her delicate shoulders. "Cat, I need you to do me a favor. Jade's not answering her phone. Not sure what's going on. Has she told you anything?"

Cat took a few seconds to respond with a shake of her head.

Beck pursed his lips and tried again. "Cat, you're her best friend. I need to know what's going on; all this worrying is making me crazy. Is Jade okay?"

"I seriously don't know!" Cat whined with tears in her eyes. "I tried to talk to her about it but she's been avoiding me. She won't answer my questions. I think she hates me."

Beck tried to calm her down, hugging her to him, gently patting her head. "No, no, it's not that. Jade would never do something like that. I guess I'll just try calling her later."

Cat nodded, pulling away from him. Beck gave a cheerful smile and tweaked her cheek. "Everything will be fine, even if we have to corner her to tell us, Okay?"

Cat nodded again with a smile. "We should bibble shower her," she said with a giggle. Beck smiled again. "Last resort," he said with a light laugh. He patted her shoulders and walked away to go to his next class.

Tori couldn't help overhearing and grabbed Cat by the arm. "Come with me!"

Cat tried her best to keep up with Tori, "What's this abouuuuuut?"

Tori found Robbie as he shut his locker and caught him by surprise. "Robbie, do you have Jade's number?"

Cat looked at Tori, "I have Jade's number on my phone!"

Tori turned to Cat, "But it's in your locker at the other end of the school!" She turned to Robbie. "Give her your phone for a minute!"

Robbie complied and quickly gave up his phone, not understanding what was going on. Cat looked at Tori confused. Tori pushed Cat into a corner, "You need to call Jade and say that you miss her, tell her you want to see her. Go, go, go! Class is gonna start soon!"

Tori was making Cat feel a little overwhelmed and turned her back to make the call. She put the phone to her ear and waited. She bit her bottom lip and looked over her shoulder at Tori and Robbie who were watching her intently. The phone only kept ringing.

Jade stirred from her sleep, annoyed that she was awakened shortly after she had fallen asleep. Her head pounded and her eyes felt puffy. She looked over at her phone and saw Robbie's name on the screen. She groaned and sat up. What did that fool need now? To locate another mop? She answered it unwillingly. "What Robbie!"

"Jade it's me, Cat," came a soft but high voice. Instantly Jade felt herself light up. She ran her hand through her hair to get it out of her face. She tried to speak but her voice was caught in her throat. She attempted three times but nothing audible came out. "Jade?" The soft voice whispered.

"We're all just worried that something happened to you, I'm glad you answered the phone. I know it's Robbie's, must've surprised you huh?" She said with a cute giggle. Jade bit her lip.

Cat looked over her shoulder at Tori who told her to keep talking. Cat resumed her position and traced her fingers on the wall. "Jade, listen, you have us all worried." She somehow heard Jade roll her eyes and she insisted. "It's true! You don't talk to any of us, you don't talk to Beck and you don't talk to me... I thought we were friends Jade... I really am worried about you. I care about you..." Cat lowered her voice. She traced a heart on the wall.

Jade, still holding the phone to her ear, got up slowly and sat on the edge of her bed.

"Remember when we talked on the phone when we were little and I was always scared of mirrors?"

Jade's eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Remember you told me it was a portal to our hearts and we'd talk on the phone you told me to put my hand on the mirror at the same time you did..."

Jade nodded with a small smile, sniffing.

"Do it now Jade," Cat softly commanded over the phone. Jade looked at the mirror, walked over to it and slowly raised her hand and placed her palm against the glass.

"I remember, "Jade said softly. She could hear Cat smile on the other end.

"Come to class Jadey, I want to see you!"

Jade heaved a deep sigh and ruffled her hair. "I'll be in at 3rd period. I didn't do my homework yet."

Cat giggled. "Oh Jade, that's no big deal. Come play with me after school!"

Jade smiled and heaved another sigh to clear her sinuses. "Yea, I'll be there."

"Yaaaay! Okay see you later! I love you!" then Cat hung up. Jade let the phone drop to the floor and she sat in her dress up chair staring at her face. She rubbed her cheeks from going numb after smiling from the phone call. She didn't know if after last night she could face Cat. But all of the sudden there was an urgency.

Tori congratulated Cat and was told that Jade would show up after lunch. Tori and Cat high fived. She knew Jade wouldn't resist Cat. The bell rang and they went off to their classes.

Jade didn't show up at lunch or after and when 3rd period came, Tori and Cat were looking over to the door to see if Jade would come in. Nobody. The teacher started class and Tori and Cat looked at each other kind of down.

After the whole class had sung their songs, jade's was last but she hadn't shown up yet. He was about to write absent when a dark figure walked in and put her paper on his desk. "I'm here."

She dropped her bag and tore into it looking for her notes. She looked over at Andre and requested he play the keyboard. He obliged quickly, setting up the keyboard to the notes she had given him. She sat up on the stool and adjusted the mic. She looked up and saw her friends smiling at her. Cat looked overjoyed the most. She was waving and gushing over Jade and grabbing Tori's arm. Jade smiled thinly and nodded at Andre to begin.

Jade sang a ballad, with low and deep tones and full of emotion, she kept her eyes closed for most of the song and when she opened them she looked at Beck. She sang to him a heartfelt song. She would also look over at the crowd casually and land her gaze on Cat and sang to her as well.

Cat sat quietly, breathing in deep as if the song was for her. She felt it deep inside her and pull at her heart. She felt as if every inch of her tingled with Jade's song. She was suddenly aware that there was no one else in the class, not even Andre on the keyboard, just the two of them. As the song neared the end, Jade got up and slowly crossed over to her in a slow stride and as the last words were sung, Jade bent down and kissed her on the lips ever so softly.

As the class erupted in applause, Cat woke up with a start. Blinking many times to clear her head and saw Jade step down, done with her song. Cat applauded fiercely. Jade went to sit down next to Beck who wrapped his arms around her tightly, kissing her forehead. Cat smiled at them both and turned her attention to the teacher at the front.

"Alright! That was Beautiful! You still get points off for being late though," He said with a goofy smile. Jade turned her head to him unamused. Beck rubbed her shoulders with a chuckle.

After Class, Andre suggested they all go to Nozu's, he was treating to Jade's new song. They all convinced Jade to go with them and Beck would drive her home after an hour. Jade grudgingly agreed.


	5. Chapter 5

Cat was blushing when she left her friends at the doorstep of her house. She slowly went upstairs and curled up in her bed with her stuffed giraffe staring at the wall. The wind blew the translucent curtains inward with the light breeze. She scratched the stuffed giraffe's neck as if it was a cat. She hid her face in the pillow remembering Jade's gaze as she had sang her song today. These feelings started up when she had told Jade she loved her on the phone. They used to always say it when they were kids, so why was it different? As soon as she had said it she had felt a hard thud in her chest and she had quickly hung up in case Jade had heard it. And then when she heard her song, it sounded sad. Like a bird who was singing to another bird who was inside a cage. So close, yet so far. The only sounds to accompany them were their voices, telling each other they were here.

But why had she daydreamt about Jade kissing her? She knew the song was for Beck. Right? She muffled her confused and frustrated sigh into the pillow. _Then whhhhhy was it making her heart beat super-fast?_ Deciding she couldn't stay in bed for the rest of the evening, she sat up and kicked her legs over the bed and sat on the edge. She had to do something to distract herself. She bounced up with an idea. She would go to the music store! She quickly ran a brush through her hair and ran out, clutching her hand purse.

While she browsed her favorites, she came across titles that she and Jade had performed live. In the songs they had often faced each other as if they were the lovers the songs were talking about. She cleared her throat and shook her head, trying to clear her mind.

"Earth to Caaaaaaaaat."

Cat looked up and saw Tori making her way over to her. "Hey," she said, finally getting Cat's attention. "Bored?"

Cat shrugged sheepishly. "Yeaaa, needed to get out of the house."

"Ah. No Tom?" Tori looked over Cat's shoulder. Cat only shook her head. "We're only dating. I'm not attached to him yet," she said with a light giggle. "Still getting to know him."

"Well I can tell he's had a crush on you for a very long time. He's veeeery cute," Tori nudged Cat in the arm with an approving wink. Cat nodded with a vibrant smile. She saw a girl exactly like Jade walk in and her breath got caught in her throat before realizing it wasn't Jade. She clapped her hands to her cheeks when she felt them get heated up.

"Cat?"

"No!"

"No, what? Cat, what's wrong?"

"N-nothing, sorry… I don't know what came over me. Sorry. I must be tired."

"You too?" Tori took Cat by the arm in concern. "Maybe there is a cold going around the school. First Jade, now you. So weird. Come one, let's get you something warm to drink for now and then I want you to go straight home."

"You're kidding!" Tori slammed down her hot cocoa with disbelief in her voice, her eyes wide with surprise. Cat only nodded as she sipped her hot cocoa. She put it down and wiped her bottom lip. She had just told Tori that she had been daydreaming about Jade kissing her and how she makes her heart beat faster.

Tori tried to think about what else it could be. Was it a sickness? She sipped slowly. When she spoke again she saw Cat looked worried.

"Cat, I wouldn't worry. You felt this after the song? It was a very deep moving song. Maybe you just felt emotional." Tori shrugged. "It's no big deal."

Cat shook her head, "No it's not that. I think the song only pulled out something that was hiding. When we danced, I only saw her and felt her and I wanted her to do something but…" she quieted, realizing people were listening. Tori sat, nodding, intently listening.

"Wow," was all she said after a few seconds.

Cat wrung her hands out, as she often did when she was indecisive. "I need to know what to do. Like how do I find out the truth, or, or how can I tell if this is what I really feel? Maybe! Maybe it's just a bug that'll go away with a few days!"

_A love bug._

Tori gave her an uneasy smile, knowing very well that wasn't the case. She swallowed her cocoa and sat looking at Cat who was staring at her genuinely wanting advice. Tori took a deep breath. What do you say to that?

"Uhm…" Tori looked around and saw a couple kissing in the corner. Could that be it? She turned to look back at Cat, quickly giving the idea in her head a once over. Would it be alright to advise this? She couldn't guarantee anything. She cleared her throat again.

"Cat, what do you… do to find out if the right guy you're with is the right one?"

Cat brightened up, "Well we hold hands, sometimes it's uncomfortable and if so then I don't hold their hands and that's that."

Tori shrugged up her eyebrows, "Okaaaaay. Then how about when you kiss them?" Cat tilted her head to the side and nodded. "Yea, that's very important. If I feel all happy and warm and it's a nice kiss then I know my feelings are real for him. But what does this have to do with me and Jade?"

Tori smiled, she knew Cat somehow wouldn't get it right away. Had it been Jade or anyone else they would have stopped at her asking the kiss question.

Tori leaned over and made Cat lean over closer. "I'm going to ask you to do something. I promise it'll answer all your questions." Cat nodded, listening closely, her eyes slowly narrowing as she understood word for word Tori told her.

Jade got out of the car and saw a pink bow on the mailbox. Jade said good-bye to Beck without looking at him. Was that Cat's? Cat always made some little trinket to let people know she was in a certain home. _She was inside?_ Jade looked up at her bedroom window and found the drapes open. She swore under her breath and ran into the house. She called for her parents but they weren't home. She climbed the stairs two at a time, eyes on her bedroom door. She swung the door open and found Cat with her back turned, facing the window. She whirled around in an array of bright colors with a smile on her face.

Jade literally melted. Her bag slid from her shoulder onto the floor with a thud. She quickly swallowed hard and shut her door without looking.

"Cat…" she said with her voice catching. She cleared it a few times and ran her hands through her hair, trying to clear her head. What was she doing here?

"Your mom was here and she let me in but she had to run to get dinner for your father," Cat said with a soft smile, "So we're alone."

Jade's mind panicked. "You need to leave right now," she grabbed Cat's arm and pulled her towards the door and ran to her window to close the drapes, making the room dark except for the dark, bat like, lamp that was on.

"I'm not leaving," Cat said her tone very serious. Jade didn't turn around. Cat walked over slowly and sat on the bed. She looked down noticing the bed was in shreds. She raised her eyebrows and was about to ask what happened when Jade brushed past her in haste. She grabbed her bag and reached for the door. If Cat wasn't leaving then she was.

"Jade stop!" Cat shouted. Jade halted in her steps as she swung the door open. "Don't leave me again."

Jade hung her head, her heart thumping miles per minute. She was too weak it seemed. She needed to run from this temptress. She grabbed her head as it started to pound, not knowing what to do.

"Jadey…" Cat was beside her now and taking down her hands. Jade looked at her with the innocence of a child who had just been caught in a misdeed and was trying their best to mask it.

"We need to talk…" Cat started.

**_how is everyone doing? I hope you are liking my story. it's kinda all over the place and I am making it up as I go. But I can't stop right now haha so many ideas going through my head XD Please give me feedback, I like to know how this is getting you guys :) Thanks for reading :*_**


	6. Chapter 6

Tori watched Cat and Jade from a distance. She was looking for a sign, anything. Did it go well? Tori caught Cat's eye and she only shook her head. Jade saw her and turned around to look at Tori who pretended she was engrossed with Andre's hair. Jade glared then faced Cat who smiled brightly at her, cute dimple showing as usual. Jade and Cat had had a long talk the night before. Since they both had boyfriends now, it was time they spent time with them. They agreed to eat lunch at school and do after school activities with all four. Jade wanted to get used to Tom and Cat together. They were already rumored to be the cutest couple at Hollywood arts. Jade saw that and realized even though she tormented herself about Cat, she had to let go. It was healthier this way.

Cat spotted Tom coming her way and she waved him over excitedly. He smiled and sped up his pace to be by her side. They hugged and she kissed his cheek. She reached into her bag and pulled out a small pink box and presented it to him.

He looked around at everyone around him with his own cute smile and opening the box his face widened into a smile. She had made him home made brownies. He thanked her over and over, hugging her. Excited to eat them, he popped a mini one in his mouth and made a groan that suggested they were to die for.

Beck nodded, chuckling. Cat saw him and quickly turned to Tom with a sweet smile. "Can I have one for Beck?"

"Oh, sure!" he extended his arm, offering Beck the box. Beck seemed mock speechless and reached in to take one, thanking them both. Taking a bite he also groaned with his mouth full. Tom and him talked to each other in groans and muffled brown mouths as if having a conversation. Jade smiled lightly at her boyfriend's antics. He looked over at her, slung his arm over her shoulder and kissed her. Jade pushed him away, chuckling, wiping her mouth and running her tongue over her teeth.

Tori, Andre and Robbie joined them and were talking about since it was Friday they wanted to go to a club. Tom quickly cleared his mouth with pink lemonade and reached into his pockets, pulling out several tickets.

"I'm Dj'ing at this club tonight. I got you all tickets to come. It starts at 10pm."

They all hooted in approval and Cat kissed him on the cheek saying he was really sweet for involving her friends.

Beck and Jade would show up later, they had made plans to go see a movie and it wasn't ending till real late.

Cat arrived with her friends and were shown the backdoors to get into the V.I.P room. They were lead to be seated behind the stage with the curtains open. They lounged on leather red seats and had drinks brought to them with their private bartender. The club was bouncing full of energy and dancers showing off their new moves. Tom bounced up and down with his arm out as he moved the turn tables to his desire. He put one of the headphones onto his head, nodding to the music.

Cat got up excitedly and took Tori out to dance with him. They danced and made lots of noise, hooting and clapping. Tom beamed as he watched Cat dance around him. He turned and danced with her a few steps before having to turn back to the table. A waitress came and attended Andre and Robbie. With Robbie insisting he didn't want anything alcoholic, she ended up giving him a light tonic with more sprite than usual. Andre only wanted the beers and she brought them with a cold tray of assorted beers. Andre laughed and picked up one, snapping off the cap. "This is awesome!"

Robbie kept staring at the girls dancing. Andre noticed.

"Go and dance Rob!"

"No, no, I can't do that," Robbie had left Rex at home by Andre's insistence so he felt a little exposed and shyer than usual. Andre laughed again.

"Drink that up now and go dance, you'll feel better."

Robbie still kept denying it. Andre called Tori over and gestured towards Robbie. Tori got it right away and grabbed Robbie's hands and tried to get him up. Andre gestured to the drink he had in his hand. Tori picked up a bottle and snapping off the lid, she clinked Robbie's glass and told him to knock it back with her. When she chugged it back, Robbie hesitantly did the same.

Andre laughed as Robbie shook his head several times and widened his eyes. Tori then took his cup and put it down and told him to get up and dance. Robbie was pulled from his chair, he clumsily made it to the dance floor and when he started to move he felt oddly comfortable. When he was getting to hyper, Tori would grab his hands so he wouldn't hit anyone around him.

They stayed until 1am, everyone's acceptable curfew. Andre had gathered a bunch of phone numbers and Robbie was passed out on the red leather. They had to carry him to the taxi. Tori had asked Trina to pick them up since she was also there amongst the crowd. Since her car couldn't fit more than four people Tom and Cat had to get their own ride. They didn't mind. Tom's brother offered to pick them up after he was done with his house party, which wasn't until much later.

Jade and Beck had decided not to show. She had sent a text saying she had to make up time with Beck and would see them Monday. Cat didn't let that get her down. She and Tom would get to spend some quality time.

They were in the back of the club in the storeroom where all the electronics went. Cat had helped him put some stuff away. They made small chat and joked around. At the end of it all, still waiting for his brother, Tom had bid Cat to sit on his lap to talk. They talked about all things that came to mind. Their voices barely audible if somebody was spying.

Cat played with the ends of his shirt like she played with her hair as she listened to him talk with a light smile on his face. Her bedtime was usually no later than 11pm but she was wide awake.

All the while Tom was talking she kept staring at his pink lips, wondering what they would feel like against hers. Before she knew it, she had interrupted him with a kiss. He stopped mid-sentence in surprise then slowly smiled at her. Cat smiled and lay back against the wall behind her and continued to play with his shirt again. He traced his fingers along her soft knuckles, explaining how he had waited for so long for someone like her. Cat smiled to herself not looking at him anymore but at his hands. For some strange reason, she wondered what Jade and Beck had ended up doing. Suddenly Images of Jade throwing back her head and hissing in delight sent vicious shivers through Cat. She trembled and quickly tried to take a deep breath.

Tom quickly took off his exterior shirt and wrapped it around Cat. "I didn't think you were cold. You need to tell me these things, baby." He placed his arm around her back and under her knees to hoist her closer to him for body heat. Cat was turned on now. She couldn't hide her blush anymore or the creeping tingly feeling she was having. She wanted Tom to touch her.

She clung to him and breathed hotly into his neck, caressing the skin with her lips ever so gently. Tom turned his head to her and kissed her deeply. Soon the kiss was passionate, Cat's fingers tangling into Tom's hair, pulling him closer. It didn't take long for his bulge to harden. He gripped her thighs tightly, sliding his hands up her skirt. She got up halfway and swung her leg over his hip, making him squeak in his throat. She straddled him and looked into his eyes and grabbed his head again to kiss him. His hands were up her back now, underneath her shirt, trying to unhook her bra. He was clumsy. Maybe he didn't get to do this often. Now Cat grinned, finding out that she could teach him a few things.

Just then her phone got a text and his rang, both at the same time. They parted, laughing at the coincidence. He answered, still looking at Cat. His brother was here, waiting outside. Without choice, they dressed up whatever was taken off and hurriedly ran to make the vehicle.

Tori had texted Cat to see if she was ok. Tom had been a complete sweetheart, didn't force himself on her or expected her to continue, blowing his brother off. He was sweet. Unlike Jade. She could picture the exact same thing happening. Instead of Cat initiating, it would have been Jade. Instead of answering her phone, she would've thrown it across the room not caring who it was. And if no one came to pick them up she would have hailed a cab, put a fake name on the credit machine and ran away as she got out of the vehicle. Cat giggled to herself and Tom gave her hand a squeeze with a smile on his face. She replied she was perfect.


	7. Chapter 7

Cat was humming to herself as she tapped her ipear, walking down the hallway. She looked up and saw Beck and Jade at her locker, cuddling close, him whispering sweet nothings. She knew that Beck was comforting her about something so she decided to best leave them alone. She turned to her left and bumped into Tori, who upon seeing her grabbed her hand and pulled her aside.

"You gonna tell me what happened or am I going to force it out of you again!" she hissed fiercely, looking over to see if Jade was aware of them.

"Tell you what?" Cat said innocently, tilting her head to the side with her cute smile.

"Did you talk to Jade?"

"Of course I did, we talk every day," Cat said now looking into her bag. Tori groaned and stamped her foot. "Cat did you have THE talk with Jade yet?"

Cat looked up a little confusion crossing her face. "That's a best friend's job? Strange, I thought that was a mother and daughter talk. But I could try! Not so sure how it will go cause I'm sure she and Beck are-"

"Cat!" Tori shook her gently to get her head back. "Did you kiss Jade!?"

Cat's eyes suddenly got where Tori was going and she opened her mouth to say something but then Andre and Robbie butted in.

"Who's kissing who now?"

"Jade…" Tori didn't know what else to say. How much did they hear? She was sure Cat wanted this kept a secret. Right?

"And Beck," Cat finished off for her and continued looking in her bag and pulled out twizzlers. "Want sum?" They all reached for some when Jade and Beck rounded the corner and saw them.

"Hey guys, how was the party?"

Tori only nodded as she chewed. Cat smiled sweetly at Jade, "We had fun! How was your movie?"

Beck and Jade glanced at each other. Beck shouldered his bag and grinned, "Oh, we barely watched it."

Andre nodded in approval with a sly smile. Robbie just rubbed the back of his neck. Tori only raised her eyebrows and nodded. Cat tried to appear calm as she sucked on her twizzler but inside she was feeling strange. So Beck was free to touch Jade all he wanted, even where no one else was allowed. _Was she jealous?_

"Cat!"

Cat furrowed her eyebrows and looked up at Jade. "Yes?"

"Can I have one," Jade said with her hand apparently extended for a few seconds already. Cat handed her one and one to Beck who smiled kindly at her. Well Beck was sweet to Jade and Jade clearly needed him. She only wished she was able to fill that void for her. _Wait, what?_

"Cat, you okay? Still feeling sick?" Tori asked with concern. Cat brushed it aside, shaking her head and smiled again, just when the bell rang. They all had first period together. They sat in usual spots and for partners when they had to pair up, Cat wanted to pair up with Jade. She was afraid Beck would grab her, she wanted to spend some time alone with Jade, it had been weeks now.

Cat turned in her seat and looked at Jade, "Jade will you please be my partner?" Jade looked at her with a look of confusion at Cat's hopeful expression, biting her lower lip, hands clutching the back of her own chair. It had been awhile huh. Jade smiled at her. "Sure Cat."

"You're on your own Beck," Jade said over her shoulder at her boyfriend. He only nodded and shrugged at Andre who shrugged back. Tori nodded at Cat and gave her a thumbs up.

"The hell's your problem Vega?" Jade sneered as she passed her. Tori sneered back. Why someone like Cat was interested in someone like her was beyond her. She rolled her eyes and smiled at a classmate who had approached her.

Cat was suddenly filled with so much warmth and happiness that she could hardly contain. Finally alone with Jade! Her heart was almost beating too fast. Cat and Jade had lost a bit of contact since their chat at Jade's bedroom. It's not what she had had in mind but there was nothing else she could expect if they were both dating boys.

Cat watched Jade pull out books in the library. One particular book caught Jade's attention, a huge leather bound book on a stand. She holstered her bag and opened it slowly. Cat stepped up slowly to stand across from her. The library's roof windows let in a sunbeam that cascaded over Jade's dark locks, illuminating the blue highlights she had. Her face seemed almost porcelain, long lashes casting shadows on her soft cheeks. She was parting her lips reading silently to herself and Cat realized that Beck was the last person to taste them. She drew in a breath and exhaled in defeat, shoulders slumping a little.

Jade looked up quickly. "What are we looking for again?"

Cat smiled at her then walked off, "It's okay I'll find it."

Jade watched her walk off slowly looking in every which direction for the shelf. Did she seem a little gloomy? Tori had mentioned if she was still sick? When was she sick? She decided to shrug it off and tried to follow her but lost her amongst the rows of shelves. This library was quiet and you could still hear Cat saying "not here, oh how about this one," to herself throughout the place. Jade followed her voice and found her reaching up for a book. She laid the book down on a table and opened it up. Her face lightened up and she turned to yell for Jade but bumped into her chest.

Jade smirked down at her. "Found it?"

Cat nodded with a sheepish smile. Cat gestured that they sit and examine the book. Jade sat across from her and watched her with small smile on her face while Cat went through the book, leafing its pages. Jade had no idea what their topic was about and seemingly she didn't really care. Cat looked so serious scanning the pages, brown eyes lingering on images. Jade loved the way she looked when she concentrated; it was a rare thing usually. Her brows would furrow and her brown eyes would focus without blinking, often biting her lower lip. Jade found her irresistible, no wonder so many guys were throwing themselves at her, but Cat always seemed so oblivious to it all. She thought it might've been an act but really it was that she didn't care.

"Hey Jade?" Cat's voice broke her out of the small trance. "Hm?"

"What are we looking for exactly?" Cat whispered with a soft giggle. Had none of them been paying attention? Jade chuckled deep in her throat and shook her head. Their eyes met for a few seconds then Cat unwillingly looked back down at the book. Jade leaned on the table, pretending to look at the book upside down. She wondered if Cat was happy with Tom. Did they make out yet? Have they done anything yet? She found herself running her forefinger across Cat's knuckles but didn't stop herself as she kept wondering to herself.

"Hey Cat…"

Cat had been staring at the hand caressing her hand and looked back at the book quickly when she found Jade staring at her with those blue/green eyes. "Y-yea?"

"Are you happy with Tom? Is he good to you?"

"Yes, he's very nice to me. And I have no complaints about him either, so I guess I am …" she trailed off.

"If he ever was not nice, you would tell me right?"

Cat forced a smile, "Of course."

Jade noticed her forced smile. "Is there something you wanna tell me?"

Cat shook her head. "Caaaat?" Cat squirmed and now started playing with her hair. "Is it about Tom? Did he force you into anything?" Jade was now sitting upright with attention. Cat shook her head vigorously again. Jade relaxed again, "Oh, well good. Cause I'd knock him out if he ever did."

Cat smiled and giggled. "I know you would. But he's very sweet to me."

Jade had thought Cat didn't like sweet, or she would've dated Robbie. Maybe she really wasn't interested in him at all and saw him as a friend. That could be it. Or maybe Tom had another side to him. Jade was lost in thought and Cat had been watching her for the last few minutes. She suddenly had the courage to say something to her.

"Jade…"

Just then Tori burst around the corner. "There you guys are! Teach wants you guys to come back to class. He changed his mind and said something more fun had hit him in the head…" Tori gave Cat an apologetic look and Cat smiled sympathetically back. Jade looked at them back and forth, were they hiding a secret? Jade slammed her hand on the table. "Tell the teach that we're held up and will be along in a bit! Now leave!"

Cat stood up abruptly. "We're done here anyways, I have the book. We can go back to class. It's okay Jade."

Jade stood up and grabbed Cat by the shoulder. "I really think you should finish what you were saying before we were rudely interrupted!" Jade said loudly enough for a receding Tori form to hear. Cat only stared up at her and her smile widened, the worried look completely gone with no trace.

"We'll have another chance to talk Jade. We're not strangers." Cat turned on her heels and walked around the bend. Leaving Jade confused.

After class Jade grabbed Tori and pulled her aside. "You know something. Talk."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." Tori looked around for anyone to help her, especially Cat.

"B.S you don't," Jade snapped at her. "What's wrong with Cat? You said she was sick earlier, with what? She's been acting strange for a while now."

"Look who's talking," Tori scoffed. Jade pulled back. "My business has nothing to do with you and I suggest you butt out. Whatever it is you have going with Cat, I'll end it!" Jade then stormed off with a growl in her throat.

Tori stared at her leave. She threw up her hands in defeat. "What do you see in that girl!" she asked as if Cat was around. She shook her head and walked to her locker.


	8. Chapter 8

Jade had found a new pair of scissors and she was just aimlessly opening and closing them, making the people in front of her uneasy with the sound, cringing and shying away from her. Jade just stared at the blades. She had ruined her last pair when she had hacked up her bed. She had placed new sheets over the bed but she could still feel the mattress spilling out its stuffing. She sighed heavily, realizing she was bored. She got up and walked over to Cat who was talking to a boy who was showing interest in her. As soon as he saw her approach he sat up right making Cat turn with a bright smile on her face. "Hi Jade!" she waved as if Jade was across the room. Jade nodded with a small smile and asked if she wanted to go for a walk in the mall later. Cat perked up more since Jade asking her out was rare. But Cat bit her lip.

"I'm meeting Tom at the music store later; he wants me to meet some of his friends. You can come too!" Cat said cheerily at Jade's exhaustingly annoyed look. Jade shouldered her bag and was ready to reject when she realized she didn't really know Tom. Maybe this way she would have an insight in what the boy was like around Cat. Jade nodded.

"Sure. After school then, meet you at your locker," Jade turned on her heel and left the class. Cat chewed on her bottom lip but quickly dismissed the idea that Jade seemed to be in a gloomy mood.

.

Beck and Jade were walking together, talking to each other as they made their way to Cat's locker. Cat looked over the locker door and admired how perfect they looked together. She pressed a tight smile as she tried to hold back a twinge of jealousy. She wanted to hold hands with Jade. It's been so long, wondered if she would object.

"Hey guys!" she said giddily. "Is Beck coming too?"

Jade scoffed, "Nope, enough of the boyfriend for today," she said with a smile at Beck. He took the message and gave Cat a smile. "You take care of her for me," he said teasingly and walked off. Cat nodded with a sweet smile. Jade saw her fake smile as usual being able to tell when Cat was forcing herself. She walked up right to her as Cat waved at Beck. When she turned she was directly in Jade's neck, she took a step back, but not before taking in her scent of fresh brewed coffee and peppermint. _Was that her lip gloss?_ She flicked her brown eyes and saw Jade staring directly down at her with a smirk. "So, ready to go?"

This is the second time she has done this and every single time it's given Cat butterflies and she wanted to instead run to a secluded corner to kiss Jade. She absentmindedly closed her locker then her eyes widened when she realized what she had just thought of. Jade called her twice before she snapped out of it. "You still sick?"

"Sick?... oh, no, no, no I'm fine!" Cat said with a nervous giggle and then she quickly composed herself. "Just remembered I forgot my homework… at home." Jade raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well irrelevant now that class is over," she walked past Cat and headed towards the doors to exit the building. "C'mon, don't wanna keep lover boy waiting." Cat inhaled deeply and nodding, followed her. They got into Jade's car and Cat quickly pointed out she wanted to go home to change her outfit.

"Cat you look perfect, let's just go," Jade said looking over her shoulder doing a shoulder check before pulling out. Cat felt a blush creep on her cheeks and she smiled. "But I want to show you my new dress!"

Jade raised her eyebrows and looked over at her. "For Tom?"

"Yea… sure for Tom," Cat said softly looking straight ahead. _Why was this so hard?_

"Okay fine, but we shouldn't keep him waiting too long."

.

Once inside Cat's bedroom, Cat had gone to her closet to pull out the cute short dress she had just bought. She spread it on the bed and Jade commented how nice it was. When Cat asked if she wanted to see it on her she nodded and Cat turned her back to her, pulling her hair out of the way, revealing her nape to allow Jade to unzip her dress from behind. Jade willingly got up and went up to her and unhooked the first hook and then gripped the zipper in her two fingers. She slowly slid the zipper down realizing as if for the first time that she was undressing the girl. Her breathing stopped when she inhaled Cat's sweet body wash scent. Suddenly time went slow and she inched forward, her lips hovering over Cat's neck. She was incredibly tempted to kiss the soft skin, nibble ever so lightly on the tip of her ear and whisper longingly in her ear. Snake a hand inside her dress and caress her breasts, pinching even.

Cat was having a hard time herself. She watched Jade through the mirror, felt her hot breath on her neck, giving her delicious goose bumps. She shivered and held her breath as if to hold time. She wanted Jade to make a move, anything to give her the green light. If anything, her body was begging her to. She ached all over, wanted to be hugged, kissed and groped even. _She'd let Jade do anything!_

Immediately she thought of Tom and Beck and snapped back to reality. She giggled with a shrug of her shoulders, snapping Jade out of her trance once again. "You okay?" Cat asked Jade through the mirror.

Jade blinked many times, looked down, unzipped the zipper the remaining way and turned away, clearing her throat as if she was interested in Cat's crazy posters. Cat smiled sheepishly and tugged the dress off and pulled the other one on then did a twirl for Jade to check it out. "Wow, that's real cute. Tom's a lucky guy. How much was this?" Jade busied herself with playing with the hem of the purple dress.

Cat only smiled, "It was on sale, I thought it was me." She looked up tentatively at Jade, suddenly shy. "Does it… does it look good on me?"

Jade looked at her and smiled, "It's really cute, you're really cute, it's totally you."

.

Tom greeted the girls as they came through the doors of the music shop. He smiled when he saw Cat's new dress, taking her hand and making her twirl for him. They hugged and kissed each other on the cheek. Jade stood back while he introduced her to his friends all nodding approvingly of her. Then Tom introduced Jade as Cat's spirit animal which they found hilarious. Cat corrected Tom, "Oh no, no, no, she's my bestest friend in the world," she replied with a cute smile.

Most of the night they spent time in the storage room which was cleverly made into a lounge area, complete with couches and a mocha machine, laughing and telling tales of each other, either embarrassing or clever. Jade was offered a cup of mocha by Cat who sat down really close to her. Usually this would annoy Jade but right now she wanted someone to connect to. These guys were nuts. They were real party guys alright. She kept vigilant and examined each guy with scrutiny in her eyes, smiling occasionally at the awkward comments and funny tales. Cat laughed at Tom's jokes and experiences. The guy was actually pretty funny. Occasionally Cat would comment something about Tom on their dates and the guys would roar in laughter. Tom would duck his head and rub his neck in shyness, chuckling.

Jade found that his smile matched Cat's perfectly. The way he looked at her when she was talking and how he held her in one arm sweetly not possessively. When he was talking to the guys he would rub her bare shoulder and give her a squeeze and Cat would lean into his hugs, smiling and laughing with the rest of them. _Would Tom take care of Cat forever? _

Jade decided she had had enough and got up, putting down her mug saying it was getting late and that she had rehearsal first thing in the morning.

"Oh yea! That song with Andre right?" Cat pulled herself away from Tom and leaned over to Jade. Jade simply nodded and shouldered her bag.

"Hey, you sing?" asked one of the guys who had a full head of dreadlocks. He seemed awfully interested in her the entire evening she had noticed. Cat only smiled and said she was great at it.

"That's awesome! We've heard Cat sing. Hey I know! Why don't you sing with Cat right now?"

Jade now completely wanted to reject them but Cat got up abruptly. "Yea we should! It's been so long!"

"Cat, I kinda have to get home, it's getting late. I need dinner."

"We'll get you something! C'mon sing for us!" The guys chorused. They started fist pumping hooting Jade's name. Jade rolled her eyes and put down her bag again. Cat squealed in joy and giddily hopped onto the mini stage they had complete with a karaoke set. While Jade set up the microphones, Cat turned to the crowd. "Okay what song would you guys like to hear?"

Mistletoe! Metallica! Aerohead! Beyonce! Sugah Babes! Muse! Halestorm! Bionic!

Jade shook her head aghast at the titles they threw out, frowning. Cat waited patiently with a smile, nodding and shaking her head. Tom cupped his mouth and shouted, "I don't want to miss a thing! Aerosmith!" Cat clapped her hands, "Perfect!" She turned to Jade when one of the guys got up to find the song. She was beaming and Jade couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm.

When the lyrics started they were singing to the crowd of boys but eventually they turned to each other and their voices got louder. When the song changed momentum, Cat sang whole heartily at Jade, with her hand over her heart, eyebrows furrowing and eyes glistening.

_"I don't wanna miss one smile, I don't wanna miss one kiss,_

_I just wanna be with you, right here with you, just like this,_

_I just want to hold you close, feel your heart so close to mine,_

_And just stay here in this moment for all the rest of tiiiiiiiiiiiime,"_

Jade had lost her smile and was once again lost in Cat's chocolate eyes and her cute dimple, however she kept on singing. She barely noticed when the song was over and the hooting of the boys woke her up. She and Cat bowed mockingly and Jade had to deny them when they cried for an encore, applauding. Jade happened to glance over at Tom who was applauding but his eyes were firmly on Jade, as if saying 'I saw that'.

Jade didn't understand his piercing stare but it seemed gentle enough, not menacing. Cat hopped off the stage and went into Tom's arms. "Did you like it?" he replied by kissing her in front of everyone. Jade saw him glance at her for a brief second and she stiffened. _Did he seriously just mock her?_

Jade gritted her teeth and forcing a smile insisted she take Cat home with her. Tom firmly suggested he'd take her home in a few minutes until they closed up. He assured her safety. Jade didn't like the tone he used and the challenge in his eyes. If he was planning on challenging anyone, picking Jade was the wrong choice. She simply smiled and coolly walked out of the store.

_Just who did he think he was?!_


	9. Chapter 9

Tori glanced over at Jade who was busy picking up her things from under her chair when she saw something that caught her eye on her arm. Jade quickly had covered it up and walked out of the class. Tori excused herself from a classmate and followed Jade to the bathroom where she confronted her. There were other girls inside chatting and looking at themselves in the mirror and Tori pretended to use the bathroom, closing the doors. When the girls left she found Jade still applying her mascara. Tori washed her hands and looked at Jade through the mirror. Jade did her best to ignore her, but becoming clearly annoyed how long Tori kept the water running. Tori dried her hands and came back and asked for a lip gloss. Rolling her eyes Jade handed her the item. Just then Tori reached with her right to take it but with her left hand yanked on Jade's wrist and thrust the sleeve up revealing what Tori had feared.

Livid, Jade yanked her hand back and stared at her. Tori stared back. "Jade? Is there something you want to talk about? Does Beck know?"

Jade shoved her things back in her bag. "This is none of your business!"

"Are you kidding? Jade, do you think now that I know, that I will just brush it off? This is serious!"

Jade brushed past her and Tori grabbed her wrist again. "No! You need help!"

"You will in a second if you don't let go of my arm!" Jade tried to wrench free but Tori would not let go. "Jade please! Is this because of someone?"

Jade ripped away from Tori but stood still with her back facing her. Tori took a step forward and stopped. "Jade… I know we barely talk. But I am concerned for you. Is this what's been going on these past few weeks? Everyone knows you haven't been yourself. But honestly, you haven't talked to anyone about it... Do you think that maybe since they know you, they will judge you? Since you don't seem to be talking to Beck or Cat, will you talk to me?"

Jade flinched at Cat's name mention. "I think Cat's in trouble…" she said softly. Tori pulled her head back, confused. "So you've been harming yourself?"

Jade's head whipped around, "Will you stop with me already?! This is about Tom!"

Tori was even more confused and an infuriated Jade walked out but Tori chased her and once again grabbed her wrist and pulled her aside. Jade hissed at her to stop grabbing her healing arm, shooting glances at anyone who walked by with a snarl. Tori brushed them off.

"Is Tom hurting Cat?" Tori asked now worried.

Jade exhaled, "Cat says no, that's he's really sweet but I think he has her emotionally trapped." Jade grabbed her head as if she was having a headache. "And I forced her into his arms!"

Tori tried to calm her down. "Cat would say something wouldn't she?"

Jade shook her head. "She's the kind of girl who will work things out no matter what. Won't give up she calls it." Jade was pacing now.

"How do you know this then?"

"Because! I had a creepy feeling when we hung out yesterday. Something wasn't right! I felt so … so… I don't know, it didn't feel right. I don't think Tom loves Cat but just loves the idea of having her. We have to do something!" Jade whirled around to face Tori who stood with her arms crossed, taking in all the information. "I think you should let Beck know, maybe he can help."

"No! Beck can't be involved! Look," Jade grabbed Tori's forearms to keep her attention. "Last night when Tom kissed her, he was looking at me. As if saying 'Only I can do this cause I'm a boy' the creep, I swear I wanted to hurt him so bad right there. I wanted to take Cat home but he insisted he would do it. I wanted to call her but I didn't want to seem like an old biddy."

Tori had too many things reeling in her head. Cat's crush on Jade. Jade's paranoia on Tom. Tom's possible infidelity? She took a deep breath and her eyebrows knitted in worry. "Do you see?" Jade said rather adamantly. "I'll ask Cat," Tori said after a few moments.

"She won't tell you," Jade said pulling away, narrowing her eyes. Tori shrugged and pursed her lips. "Well you just did. Don't worry, I'm on your guys' team." With that Tori walked off and disappeared into the crowd of students who were piling in to go into their classrooms.

.

Tori found Cat and her expression softened as she headed towards her but right directly behind her was Tom and Tori's expression fell but quickly managed a smile. "Hey guys!" she switched her books to one arm then to the other. Tom saw her complication and offered to carry her books. Cat smiled at Tori. "Hi!"

"Cat I was wondering if you wanted to go to get a coffee after school with me, I want to hit the music store for that new album that came out. I mean as long as you don't have any plans?" Tori looked from Tom to Cat to verify a message. Cat only smiled at Tom and he nodded with a smile. "It's fine, Cat and I can hang out whenever. Right, Kitten?"

Cat only blushed with a giggle and lightly slapped his arm to which his grin widened. _He didn't seem manipulative. _But when Jade had a hunch about something weird going on she was usually dead on which is why Tori had decided to peel Tom from Cat even just for a few moments. Tori nodded with a smile and taking her books back bid them farewell and told Cat to wait at her locker.

.

After school Cat didn't show up at her locker. Worried Tori went looking for her and found her in one of the singing stages. Tom was performing a play and Cat was relating his lines to him. His voice was strong and it looked as if he could very well play Romeo. He said a line aimed at Cat and Cat squealed with applause. "Perfect!" Cat looked up at the clock and with a panic quickly began to put her things in her bag. "Oh no! I didn't see the time! Tori's waiting for me!" Tom bounced off the stage and helped her pack up. He lifted her bag for her and he smiled.

"I appreciate you sticking around to help me," he said sweetly. Cat nodded with a smile herself. "It's fun. I'll see you later," she kissed him on the cheek and hurriedly made her way out the door. Tori pretended to be walking by and upon seeing her made a surprised face. "Heeeey, there you are! Was wondering if maybe you were held up in class."

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching the time. I was out of class early and Tom needed some help so I offered to help a little. But I'll make it up to you! I'll buy you coffee! Just let me get my purse!" Cat quickly dashed off down the hall to her locker. _What was wrong with her? _Cat seemed incredibly hyper. Tori walked up to Cat to her locker. She was quickly drinking from the fountain and when she saw Tori come up and she wiped her mouth, out of breath. "Okay, I'm ready."

"Cat, I know I say this a lot and I mean well, but … are you okay?" Tori asked, standing straight up to let her know that she wasn't kidding. Cat swallowed again and shook her head. "I just have a slight headache. I took sum medicine, it'll go away."

"Maybe you should just go home and relax."

"No!" Cat exclaimed out loud. Tori pulled her head back, surprised. Cat quickly calmed down, wringing her hair tips. "Sorry! We haven't hung out in a while is all. I was looking forward to it. Please, I'll be fine."

Tori battled with herself. Maybe now was not a good time to ask about Tom. They would just go and have a coffee to relax. "Alright. If you're sure." Cat nodded enthusiastically.

.

Cat talked about the most randomness' things and almost everything else had her attention, except Tori. Once or twice Tori had to snap her back to the conversation. Finally she asked about how she and Tom were doing and Cat calmed down, quietly sipping her tea. Tori didn't like the silence all of the sudden.

"Cat if Tom is hurting you, you need to let us know-"

Cat lifted her head up with her eyes wide in shock. "Hurting me? Tom isn't hurting me. Why would he hurt me? He hasn't done anything I don't give permission to." Cat swallowed another big gulp, and then stared at her cup, touching the rim with her forefinger. "He's sweet." _And there it was_. Just like Jade had said she would say. Tori pursed her lips, unsure what to say now.

Cat sighed and her shoulders sagged a bit. "A little too sweet…"

"Is that bad?" Tori asked after a few moments. Cat never lifted her gaze from the cup. "Last night he took me home…" a heart clenching pause. "And?" Tori prompted.

"We were in my room and I made him lay down with me, we were just talking. Everything was fine but I think I might have rushed him off."

"Why do you think that?"

Cat bit her lip, "I kept talking about Jade…" Cat shifted her shoulders uncomfortably. "I keep thinking about her when I am with him and lately I can't even look Beck in the eye… I hope he doesn't think I'm mad at him or anything cause I think Beck is a great guy! And Jade is lucky to have someone like him with her … whenever she wants…"

Tori took a gulp of coffee trying to sort her thoughts and think of what to say. Suddenly Cat perked up. "I promised to meet Tom later so I should get going. I need to change my clothes!"

"Cat you look cute as it is," Tori commented watching Cat pack up in a hurry. "But it's only five, you said you'd go to the music store with me."

"Oh yea," Cat then giggled. "Sorry. Just trying to forget stuff. Why don't we go right now?"

Tori shrugged and nodded. "Alright let's go."

.

Tori really had no reason to go to the store but she wanted Cat to stay away from Tom a little longer. She browsed through the majority of the genres, even the ones she never even liked. Cat was confused when she followed her. When she would see a cd she had sang in the past that she had sung alone or with Tori she would bring it up with kiddy enthusiasm. Tori smiled, glad that Cat was feeling a bit better. Tori picked up an album that she knew Cat had sung once and she held it up for her to see but quickly put it down when she remembered that Cat had sung it with Jade. _Boy this was tricky. _Trying to get the other girl's mind off the two people who were running through her mind all day was harder than she thought.

All she could find were songs about love, unrequited love, lost love and betrayed love. Tori pursed her lips, dubious if the music store was such a good idea after all. Quickly she turned around to face Cat whom she found was smiling at a boy who was waving at her from the cashier. Tori looked over and saw Tom. _Oh geez! _She had completely forgotten Cat's boyfriend worked at a music store!

"Cat! Why don't we see a movie tonight?" Tori blurted out. _What if Tom showed up? _"At my place!" she quickly added. Cat looked at her with a raised eyebrow and an awkward smile, clearly confused. "What?" then she giggled, looking at the floor, shrugging her shoulders. Tori could see why so many people fell for her cuteness. Almost too cute. "Tori what are you saying? I have plans with Tom after were done, you know that."

_Damnit._

"Well alright, I guess I can't hog you." Tori shrugged and then hugged Cat, accidentally knocking over her bag. Tori and Cat both hurriedly bent down and bumped heads in trying to reach the spilt items, laughing until Tori caught sight of an Imipramine bottle. Cat scooped the items back in her bag and saw Tori's shocked face. She smiled falsely and got up. "They help me forget," she said softly, eyes downcast then quickly jogged down the aisles to go where Tom was.

Now Tori didn't know what to do. She was too stunned to even react. Was Cat that depressed about Jade that she was taking such a dangerous drug? She slowly stood up and walked out, her mind running wild. Jade was cutting herself and now Cat was depending on drugs. Tori balled her fists, she had to do something. She would not stand by and watch this happen. It's not what a good friend would do.

.

**_I actually was hoping to end this at 10 chapters buuuut I don't think that's happening lol _**


	10. Chapter 10

Jade had just finished chewing out a girl who had walked into her path when she caught sight of Tori, who earnestly ran up to her. "It's serious!" she said adamantly as Jade had wanted to turn around and go the other way. Tori grabbed her arm and pulled her aside. Jade yanked her hand free. "People are gonna think we're together if you keep pulling me aside like this!" Jade hissed loudly, clearly annoyed. "Trust me Vega, I am not interested!

Tori shot her a look of disbelief. "Uh, yea, believe me the feeling is mutual. Look I talked to Cat."

"You did? And?" Then the bell rang. "You have awful timing Vega!" Jade growled as she scraped past Tori and headed to class. Tori ran after her.

"You're not exactly easy to find!" Tori yelled at her back.

.

Cat didn't show up for class in the morning. Tori had panicked and kept asking when she'd be in class or where she was. She was the only one upset it seemed. Of course she was! She was the only one who apparently knew Cat's secret. _Or was it a secret?_

She looked over at Jade who was calmly texting. Tori grabbed her arm in a sharp jerk, forcing her hand over so she could see the text. "Is that Cat?"

"It's-my-uncle-from-hillibilly-telling-me-about-his-crazy-wife-up-on-the-roof-throwing-cats-at-him-of-course-it's-not-you-twit!" Jade said in one breath, yanking her hand back. Tori was now even more worried. She raised her hand. "I need to leave!"

"Oh coooome on!" Sikowitz groaned. "It isn't that bad!" annoyed that his class was being interrupted.

"What isn't?!" Tori was now panicking. _Did he know something and if so did he think this was nothing to be worried about?!_ "Of course it's bad!" Tori shouted now standing up. "And if I'm the only friend who worries about it then well-hell to all of you!" Tori stormed out of the class in near tears. Beck jumped from his seat to go chase after her. Jade watched them both leave with a calm face but her eyes showed worry. Of course she was wondering where Cat was but she would only intervene if Cat asked for help.

.

Beck gently grabbed Tori by the elbows as he stopped her in the halls. He made her face him as he pulled her face up. "Call me crazy but I think that what you were talking about was not about Sikowitz lecture. Wanna tell me what's wrong?" Tori now covered her face with her hands and buried them in his neck. She needed to tell someone else, the burden was too much. Beck looked around and rubbed her back and then beckoned her to see a nurse. Clearly she seemed exhausted about something. As he led her away Jade came into view, watched them both walk away with her arms crossed. She didn't do anything. Usually she would be the first one to rip Tori from Beck but seeing them together actually didn't bother her anymore. She felt nothing. Everything was dull. Food had lost its taste, the air had no smell, physical pain was nothing and her existence felt as if she didn't belong anywhere.

She slowly turned and walked in the other direction. She sat down on the stairs and looked at her phone. Scrolling through pictures of her and Cat when they were younger, so full of fun and carefree. She had no idea when she had actually fallen for Cat. Like how even? They were completely separate personalities. At most Cat usually irritated her and sometimes she was a little hard to be around with, even in her lightest of moods. But as time went by, she had grown accustomed to Cat's antics and accepted them. But now someone else was with her, taking her away from her, a boy who could take care of her. Someone her family would approve of. Cat's parents from the start didn't like their daughter hanging around with a delinquent girl. Being friends with Jade had shown her Cat's rebellious side. Cat got what she wanted. She could manipulate people unknowingly. Tug at strings. Play them like puppets. Jade wished with all her heart that she was toying with Tom, even toy with her. Jade didn't want Cat to belong to anyone, to still be free and be available, to be around when Jade needed her. But she knew that was selfish… Cat needed to be loved and she needed to love back freely. She was affectionate and soon, with those affections, boys can't control themselves. Thinking about Cat making love to a boy made her sick to her stomach and a wave of nausea hit her. She sighed and leaned forward, burying her face on her knees of her tattered black leggings.

She didn't know how long she was in that position. She had zoned out or fallen asleep for she didn't hear the front doors slowly open and a girl with red hair tried to sneak in, slowly closing the doors behind her.

Cat scanned the area and started down the steps when she saw Jade sitting on the steps. Seeing that Jade was all alone, made her heart skip a beat. Cat cautiously approached her and slowly sat on her heels directly behind her and reached over carefully and hugged her to her chest, caressing her head and shoulders. Suddenly she felt tears fall on her arms and she pulled her in tighter. _Jade was crying_? Immediately her heart saddened. What could be so bad that made Jade cry. Jade wouldn't cry when Beck and her would fight. She would tear up angrily but never sad tears. If something could break Jade then it was either the end of the world or love. Cat hugged her as if she alone could erase the pain.

"Jadey," she whispered softly, blinking rapidly to fight the tears, worried that something had gotten to Jade to cause her pain. Jade stirred and looked up abruptly at hearing Cat's voice.

"Hey," she whispered as if waking from a dream. Cat smiled and pushed Jade's hair behind her ear to reveal the porcelain face she had fallen in love with. She caressed the delicate skin now streaked with tears and eyeliner. She gently dabbed at her face with a napkin she pulled out of her bag.

"Where were you?" Jade asked, pulling away from Cat fussing with her. She heaved a deep breath to calm down and snatched the napkin from Cat's hands to help herself. "You weren't in class, Tori was worried mostly."

Cat chuckled and shrugged her bare shoulders. "Of course, but not you, right? You know I can take care of myself."

"Something like that," Jade said plainly, composing herself. "So where were you?"

"With Tom. We had a late night." Cat said casually, playing with her hair. She was glowing today Jade noticed. She wasn't just giddy, normally she was giddy happy as if she found out she had gotten a puppy in the morning and she had spent the entire morning playing with it. Hence why she was late.

"Well we were under the stars all night. Tom was with me the entire time." Cat said with a slow smile, still playing with her hair, almost dreamily.

"What did Tom and you do? Play connect the dots with the stars?" _Something like that wasn't unlikely._

Cat turned and looked at her with pure sincerity and innocence. "No silly, we made love."

Jade's eyes widened and her face paled. Her world suddenly dropped off from the face of the earth. She felt as though Cat had slammed a knife into her chest and wrenched it free, gleefully watching the blood of her heart drip down her arm and licked it, giggling.

Jade felt herself moving slowly, the school was spinning. The bell rang and the doors erupted in bodies crowding the halls. So much noise and chatter were piercing her ears. She tried to move within the amoeba of bodies, constantly colliding with her. She couldn't see where she was going, everything was spinning too fast. Voices were calling out to her but she wasn't making sense of anything. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," she murmured over and over as if she had just heard news of a beloved ones death. She covered her face. She could hear Cat's voice calling her name, reaching out for her, but people were pushing as if they were trying to reach a buffet line before it was all gone. _Why the hell where there so many people?!_ Jade turned around and she blacked out with voices screaming her name.

.

Tori and Beck had come out of the nurse's office when they heard Cat's voice scream Jade's name. They ran over to where a group of people had huddled close in a ring. Someone called out to get the nurse, few dispersed. Beck and Tori pushed past the rest and saw Jade lying unconscious on the floor.

"What happened!?" Beck immediately slammed to his knees and scooped her up in his arms and turning ran down the hall, yelling for the nurse. Cat was crying, covering her mouth and ran after Beck but Tori grabbed her arm. "Cat! Give them space! Tell me what happened! Did you see anything?"

Cat shook her head, desperately trying to get Tori to let go, sobbing. Tori wrapped up Cat in a hug, trying to calm her down.

"Jade will be okay, Beck and the nurse is with her now. She'll be fine, she's in good hands." Tori swallowed a hard lump, she hoped she was right. What if it was all the blood loss she lost while she cut herself? Did Jade bandage after or let her arms drip till they scabbed? Tori felt to blame for not bringing this up earlier.

Tori took Cat outside for fresh air, giving her water to calm down. Cat stopped sobbing and was now hiccupping. "I don't know what happened. I was telling her about my night and suddenly she got up, looking pale as a ghost and then she collapsed. I don't know what's wrong with her! I'm such a bad best friend!" Again she started to cry. Tori rubbed her back and told her to drink more water.

"Just relax Cat, please. Just calm down. No harm done. Can you tell me what you told her?"

"I just told her that me and Tom were under the stars last night and that we made love and –"

Tori now paled with sudden realization. _That was it_. Jade had reacted badly to Cat sleeping with her boyfriend. With all the stress about Tom and Cat and cutting herself Jade must not have slept and now that she knew Cat had given Tom everything had undid any little control she had. But Cat wasn't to blame. It was her body and who she loved was up to her alone. But Tori now questioned if Cat was in love with Jade why would she go ahead and sleep with Tom? And why was Jade so adamant about Tom being such a bad guy? Surely Cat couldn't be that naïve…

Cat was crying again and Tori hugged her tightly, caressing her hair as thoughts ran wild through her head. "Its okay. It probably was just big news. After all, he is your first right? You must really love him…"

Cat stopped crying and she pulled away, wiping her tears. "No."

"No?" Tori looked at Cat in surprise._ Did Cat make a mistake too late to take back?_

"I'm in love with Jade."

Tori took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, finding her head spinning_. What now? So many people were being hurt. _How could this become that damn complex?

"I need to find Jade. I've hurt her, I know," Cat scrambled to her feet and Tori heard her high heels clicking away as she heard her hurry inside and fade as the school doors closed behind her.

Tori sat a moment longer. _Does she actually know?_

_._


	11. Chapter 11

"Doc, is it okay if you could run these tests?" Beck handed the nurse a sheet of paper with things he had written down. The nurse looked at him then at the paper. "You're sure?"

Beck nodded, eyebrows furrowed. "It would … just explain a lot." The nurse nodded and told him she'd get the results in an hour. Beck sat back down in the chair by the bed Jade lay in. She was sound asleep. Beck only smiled seeing how such a temperamental girl could look so serene while she slept. He brushed back her hair gently and leaned over to kiss her forehead. She didn't stir. He slowly got up and hefted his bag onto his shoulder, gave Jade a lingering glance then hesitantly walked out of the office.

Tori was outside waiting with Cat. He smiled at them and told Cat she could go in and see Jade to which she didn't wait for him to finish the sentence. He shrugged and raised his eyebrows, pursing his lips.

"Is Jade okay?"

"We'll find out soon. Nurse is running some tests."

"Tests? On what?" Tori asked nervously. Beck looked around him and pulled Tori over to the bench to sit. He lowered his voice. "I think I've finally clued into what's wrong with Jade. I mean it was so obvious, I feel stupid for not realizing it earlier. It'll set us back but I think we can do this. I thought about it long and hard. All this time that Jade was feeling sick, moody and not eating properly and her skin losing _more_ of its color. It's just so obvious." He sat quiet a few moments then looked at Tori who wasn't saying anything. "What do you think?"

_Think about what?_ Beck wasn't exactly making sense. What was obvious? "Uuhhhhhh, you lost me."

.

Cat slowly approached Jade lying on the bed motionless, asleep. She sat down on the chair, carefully removing her bag. She watched Jade's face, the porcelain skin that was regaining its natural color instead of pasty white, her long eye lashes, her hair strewn about. Just looking at her reminded her of Snow white. Or the Last Unicorn. Or Sleeping Beauty… this was the part where the prince would give her a kiss to wake the princess. Cat sighed, she wished she could be a Prince. Beck was tall dark and handsome and treated Jade as she needed to be treated. He could be nice and brave enough to stand up to her. Jade needed someone opposite of her just the same conclusion Cat had made about her love life. She reached over and very sweetly caressed Jade's cheek with the back of her hand. Jade's eyes moved under her eyelids in a short spasm. Cat immediately stood up halfway and leaned over Jade's face to look at her more closely. "Jade?" She scanned Jade's face with her brown eyes, her lips hovering inches from the other girl's. Cat looked down at the soft pink lips. _What was stopping her from stealing a kiss without her knowing?_

Suddenly the sky lit with lightning and flashed through the window followed by loud crack of thunder. Cat screamed and lurched forward, landing on Jade's chest. Jade woke up with a start, coughing and flailing. "What!? What!?"

The nurse ran into the room. "What's happening?! Ah Jade, you're awake! How are you feeling?" The nurse came over and checked her temperature. "I have those test results you and your boyfriend asked."

Jade sat up slowly with Cat helping her up and sitting behind her to support her weight. "What tests?" Jade asked groggily. Cat rubbed her arms, cooing her to relax.

.

Tori couldn't understand why Beck was beating around the bush. If he knew something then why not just say it or confront Jade about it. She was sure his girlfriend would tell him. Then again Beck had admittedly shown that Jade wasn't telling him anything. Just when she was about to tell him about Cat, the nurse's office door slammed open and rushing out came Jade, looking well and livid with a worried looking Cat right behind her. Jade approached them with such fury making Tori nervous and ready to run. Jade threw papers at Beck; he let them fall with his eyes on her. "Glad to see you're feeling better."

"Do you want to explain that?!" Jade yelled at him. Beck looked away from her for a brief second then looked back. "I'm sorry but I needed to know. You were hiding something and you weren't telling me. So yea I went behind your back."

"So you assumed I was pregnant?!"

Tori's eyes widened in shock, her mouth falling open in awe. _WHAT!? That's what he thought was obvious?! _Cat stood beside Jade, biting her lip over and over, fidgeting, her eyes were red from crying and now she looked ready to start all over again. Beck stood up. "Look, I'm sorry. It's all I concluded to on my own, okay. It wasn't a smart way but it was the only way."

Jade was furious. "You and I haven't done anything in months! You just blatantly called me out as cheating on you!"

"I didn't say that."

"YOU MAY AS WELL HAVE! TORI GIVE ME THOSE PAPERS!"

Tori, scared for her life, scrambled to collect the papers and handed them to her quickly. Jade snatched them out of her hands and waved them at Becks face. "You went behind my back on something that was private! My personal decisions! My personal life! Yes I'm going through a lot but it has nothing to do with you!"

Beck threw up his arms. "Weeeell thank you for admitting that I am not important enough to be considered part of your life." His arms flopped back to his sides. "So now what? We fight. We get back together. We fight again and it repeats itself. All because you can't tell me things? And when you do you act as if I'm judging you." He grabbed Jade's shoulders. "I'm doing this because I care about you! I love you! You can't keep shutting me out! Please Jade, tell me what is bothering you! I want to help!"

Jade shrugged his hands off her and she backed away looking at all three of them. "You can't"

She looked over at Tori who was hugging herself with her face full of worry, then she looked over at Cat who appeared so distressed, furrowing her eyebrows and wrenching her hands over and over, not knowing what to do. She seemed hesitant about her actions, wanting to move in close but never did.

"None of you can," Jade said bitterly.

Cat finally reached out to touch her but Jade jerked away from her sharply, wrapping her arms around herself, staring at Cat with eyes brimming with tears. "Don't touch me. Don't come near me!" Jade turned to the rest as she backed away shaking her head. "Don't any of you ever talk to me again!" she swallowed hard and ran down the hall clutching her bag.

Beck almost followed but Tori grabbed his arm fiercely. "Beck, how could you do that?"

"So now I'm the villain?" Beck heaved a deep sigh. "Wait, what did you guys do?"

Tori bit her lower lip and avoided Cat's glance to each other, making it seem awkward. Tori knew Cat liked Jade, Jade had obvious feelings for Cat and Beck was somehow in the middle as the two girls rotated around him with him oblivious to it all. However Tori knew that each girl didn't know how the other felt. And then there was Tom, who had suddenly flighted into the scene, possibly creating a barrier around Cat, keeping Jade out. Tori's eyes suddenly widened. _That's what she should have done! _Talked to Tom about this sticky situation, he'd understand!

Losing Jade in the storm as she had run out to her car and wheeled angrily away, Beck offered to take Tori and Cat home. Cat was silent in the backseat; Tori tried to make conversation but kept failing so she stared out the rain streaked window. Beck finally got fed up by the silence. "Go on," he said. "Tell me I screwed up. I shoulda' done it another way."

Tori turned her head to look at him and then looked away. "Beck, it's not your fault. I don't know what I would've done had I not known myself really."

Beck continued to brood then he quickly looked up as a lightning struck outside onto the lake ahead. Cat curled up into a ball on the backseat with a small squeal of fright. Tori reached behind her patted Cat's knee sympathetically.

"Wait, is Jade mad at you guys too? What'd you do?" Beck asked with full interest.

"Just ... girl stuff I guess," Tori mumbled. She had the sudden urge to tell Beck everything that has been going on, maybe finally she'd sleep at night knowing she wasn't keeping secrets. "Sounds serious," Beck said softly, mostly to himself.

"You don't seem so upset that she broke up with you," Tori realized that Beck was calm. Beck shrugged. "Honestly how many times do we get into fights and she comes back anyway. This is nothing."

"I really don't think it's nothing. She's pretty upset. Looks like it'll take a while," Tori said flat out.

"I feel sorry for people," Cat commented quietly. Tori instantly imagined Jade running people off the road in her vengeful rage. They all pursed their lips tight knowing it wasn't too unlikely. "We should have stopped her from going alone. She just fell and had recently woken up. I doubt she is feeling alright."

Cat sat upright. "Oh no! That's right! Beck turn around! We have to see if she's okay!" she got up and grabbed Becks arm, making him turn the wheel. The car swerved left and right, making them all scream.

"Cat, stop it!" Tori grasped the other girl's arm and tried to desperately pull them away from Beck's hands. "Stop it! We'll get into an accident!"

"Jade needs us!"

"We need you to relax first!" Tori splashed a cup of soda into Cat's face, making her fall back with a shriek of surprise. Beck slowed the car to a stop. He had frantically tried to control the car from hydroplaning. Tori sat back exasperated and rubbed Beck's shoulder to reassure him everything was fine now. Cat was sobbing in the backseat, covering her soda covered face.

Tori immediately regretted her actions. "Cat, I'm sorry, did I get you in the eye?" she turned and handed her a napkin. Abruptly Cat opened the door and ran out into the storm. Tori screamed her name and unhooking her seat belt she and Beck bolted out of the car. Beck ran after Cat and heaved her up in his arms, trying to talk to her over the roar of the storm. "Cat, it's not safe! Let me take you home!"

"I need to see Jade! I need to know if she's alright!"

"You won't find out if you do something stupid like slip and fall down the ravine, get in the car!" He pushed her into the backseat again and slammed her door shut, locking it. Tori climbed into the backseat with her and hugged her tightly, wrapping an emergency blanket around them. Beck got into the driver's seat, pushing back his sopping wet hair, breathing deeply. He nearly slipped trying to get Cat back to the car while fighting the strong wind pushing against them.

"Beck, can we go?"

Beck shook his head. "It's bad. There are no other cars on this road. We're gonna have to wait it out. It's okay tho, got enough blankets and some snacks. Shouldn't be more than a few hours. Make yourselves comfy." He pulled out snacks from the glove box and handed them over to the girls. He gave Tori's hand a squeeze and smiled comfortingly.

Cat had fallen asleep in Tori's arms and Tori mindlessly stroked her forehead like a sick child. She wasn't tired enough herself to fall asleep. She was too worried about the storm and admittedly enough, worried about Jade. She wanted to ask if Beck had received any texts from her. But Beck sat with his back against the door, making sure his keys were in his pocket and the doors locked. He groaned in his sleep and Tori wondered if he was having a nightmare.

"You okay?"

Beck opened his eyes slowly and looked over the headrest at her. He rubbed his eyes and raised his eyes to the roof. "When you asked me if I was upset about Jade 'breaking up' with me, yea... I am. I've never seen her like this. We fight all the time but this is bad. She doesn't talk to me or trust me anymore. We used to be so good at least expressing ourselves to each other but now..." He paused to rub his head.

"I just wish I knew what was wrong…" he said almost as if he was giving up. Tori needed to tell him, it was now or never. Suddenly red and blue lights started flaring around them.She groaned, annoyed._ She really did have awful timing_. A knock came to the window and Beck rolled the window down. A police officer shined a light in his face and to the backseat where Tori and Cat sat quietly. "You kids okay?"

"Yea, just skidded off the road, thought it'd be best to wait it out."

"This storm isn't relieving anyone tonight. We got a tow truck on its way; we'll get you kids home."

Tori stuck her head over the headrest, "Hey sir, how did you know where to find us?"

"Someone named Jade called it in. Gave me the license plate number, said to hurry my ass over," the officer smirked. "Feisty girl there, said if I didn't go she would steal my tow truck and do it herself then drive it into the river. Usually I don't respond to threats that sound like pranks but her tone made it real clear she wasn't playing games. Kids these days." The officer walked away yelling out orders to others who came to gather the girls out of the car. Carrying Cat like a baby bundled up and escorting Tori and Beck to the warm backseat of the police car.

They all sighed with relief and curious as to Jade's actions. Even swearing them off, she had still worried over them, threatening a cop even to go get them. Jade was quite the character. She was tough, calloused, bitter and vengeful but when more than often she was there for her friends, even if not physically. She had a big heart and she often tried to barricade it with her tough act. Cat smiled in her sleep and Tori was beginning to understand why the little red head was infatuated with the hell raiser. But wait, was Jade maybe jealous that the two people she cared about were sandwiched around Tori? Tori bit her lip as she eyeballed the car in suspicion.

.


	12. Chapter 12

Cat was actually awake the entire police car ride home, she kept her eyes shut and face hidden under the blanket that Tori had wrapped her up in. The whole time she heard Beck talk about Jade. How they'd fight for hours but end up making up at the end of the day. Longest they ever been apart was a week only because they had broken up when he had to go on a vacation with his parents, but otherwise they always patched things up as soon as possible.

"I really don't think I see my life without her, she's been a big part of my life when we started going out," Beck said half to himself and to Tori. She smiled sympathetically and then was completely surprised when Beck said the following. "But maybe it's just about time we let go of each other. Clearly, I'm not big in her life anymore," he ruffled his hair back and sighed heavily, letting his head fall back on the seat. Cat slowly opened her eyes at hearing the hurt in Beck's words.

.

Classes were cancelled the following day but school was still open for those who wanted to just go and study by choice. A small quantity of students arrived sporadically throughout the day. Tori and Andre were a few of the very first ones. Andre was at the steps playing his keyboard and Tori came to sit beside him.

"Heeeeey you're okay, I heard about what happened. Glad you're safe," He said with a smile. Tori smiled back and sipped her coffee. "Yeaaaa, was cold." She made a sweep with her eyes across the hallway. "Anyone else here yet?"

"So far just you and me," Andre went back to his keyboard. "Yo check this out." He belted out a tune and Tori nodded her head to the beat. "That's awesome! What's that one for?"

Andre shrugged, "Just felt like it. Need to keep it fresh, know what I mean?"

"Hi you guys!" Cat came through the doors with Robbie right behind her, holding an umbrella over her head. "More bravies!" Cat said with a giggle. "I told you so," she said turning to Robbie and slapping his arm lightly. He flinched but smiled, unwrapping Rex from his miniature raincoat. "Daaang it's wet! Not easy for my arthritis."

"I wonder if Beck is here." Speaking of the devil, Beck walked in from around the corner and saw them, lighting up his face. "Hey the whole crew is here. That's great! Girls sleep okay?"

Tori and Cat nodded with a smile. "How's your car?"

Beck nodded, "It's in the parking lot as we speak." They all gathered by the lockers, chatting amongst themselves. Robbie and Rex arguing while Cat talked to Beck and Tori mini danced with Andre goofily at his new song.

"Ohhhhh, I just love the smell of loser in the morning."

They all turned to find Jade standing behind them, arm crossed over her waist as she sipped her coffee all smug like. All the girls faces lit up. Cat waved. "Hi Jadey…" but was ignored. Jade went up to Beck.

"You said you'd make it up to me. Hanging with THEM doesn't get you brownie points with me!" Jade then turned on her heels and marched off. Everyone watched her storm off then they all turned to Beck. "Beck, you didn't fix it yet?"

"It's fixed. I fixed it I swear!" Beck then, returning their confused looks, jogged after her.

Cat chewed her bottom lip, playing with her sleeve, "I wonder what he did." She played with her hair, eye brows furrowed. Everyone else continued their chatter and didn't notice Cat wander off after the two. Tori caught sight of her at the last second when Cat disappeared around the corner.

Cat looked left and right and finally found the two making out in the corner. Cat stood still, hiding behind the edge of the wall. When Jade pulled away she had smug look on her face, tapped Beck's cheek then walked away in the direction of the library. Beck stood lingering a few minutes, smiled then turned to walk away when he bumped into Cat. "Hey Cat, what're you-" All of the sudden, Cat grabbed his face, pulled it down and kissed him long and hard. Cat pulled away from a confused Beck who didn't know what was going on. Tori gasped in shock, but Cat only smiled and rubbed her forefinger on his lower lip. "Thankies!" She patted his cheek and walked off into the opposite direction. Tori chased after her halfway.

"Wait, Cat! First her, now him!?" She yelled after the red head's receding form. Beck grabbed Tori by the arm. "Has Cat ever said anything about liking me to you?"

Tori threw her arms up in defeat. "Oh my god!"

"Who's Her exactly?" asked Robbie.

"Her purple giraffe!" Tori cried out.

"Thought that was a he?" Andre inputted. "Irrelevant!" Tori yelled over her shoulder. She had to find Tom. He had to fix this. Looking through every room she finally found him in the acting room. He was at his laptop, sitting on the stage's edge. He heard her come in and looked up, gave her a smile before looking back at his laptop. "Sup Tori?"

"I need to talk to you." Tori shyly made her way to him, making up the conversation in her head.

"So talk," he said, still clicking away at his keyboard. "What's on your mind Vega?"

"It's …" She hesitated a few seconds. "It's about Cat."

"My Girlfriend? What about?" he still didn't look up at her. Tori bit her lip. "Well… I just… was wondering how serious you were with her… and stuff."

He smiled, eyes still on his screen. "Quite serious."

Tori nodded then chewed her lip. "And … how do you think … she sees the relationship?" This garnered a pause from him. He looked up at her with quizzical eyes, he was telling her to make her point. She paced back and forth with slow steps, suddenly nervous with Tom's intense look. "Well, I'm just curious. I mean she mentioned you two made love and well I'm sure you are aware that she is quite unstable and I'm just wondering what kind of guy would do that to her with her not fully being herself…"

Tom looked away, pursing his lips and clearing his throat at the awkward conversation they were having.

"I realize you are concerned Tori, you're a great friend. But I never did anything to Cat without her consent. I care about her. I wouldn't want to sabotage our relationship. I love her very much. It's just unfortunate."

"What is?" Tori asked worried. Tom stood up and ruffled his hair with his hands. "You and I both know what's going on here, everyone may be oblivious but we both know the truth. Jade's self-harm and Cat's antidepressants..."

Tori stared at him in disbelief. "You know about that? Why haven't you said anything to Cat?"

"Because I suggested them to her," Tom sat back down and reverted back to typing. Her eyes widened in shock. She darted forward and angrily slammed his laptop shut. "YOU made her take them!? Do you realize how dangerous those are to someone who has-"

"This isn't any of your business!" Tom said loudly. He stood up again, setting aside the laptop.

"She is one of my best friends! You better believe it is! Why are you doing this!?" Tori shouted back.

"You don't know how hard it is to stand by and watch the one you love look at another with passion in their eyes probably secretly hoping that they were in love with them back. How sad it makes her. She can't sleep and barely eats. I had to do something to help her get over it."

Now Tori was lost. _Was this about Jade? _Did he know? Tom took a step towards Tori. "She's with me Tori, and while I am her boyfriend she can't go around frolicking like she's free cause technically she's not. She belongs to me. Don't look at me like that, I am not forcing her to stay with me. But she will stay!"

Tori took a step back, "You forced her didn't you…"

Now Tom shook his head and turned away from Tori. "It was a perfect opportunity I will admit, but I … we didn't do anything. I was about to but she started to cry and said …." He paused a moment. "Said Jade's name …" He then turned to face Tori. "I've seen the way Jade looks at her… but I won't lose my girlfriend to anyone. Much less a girl. What would people say? I'd be the mockery of this school. Every guy who loses to a woman is considered less than a man!"

Those words made Tori incredibly angry. "So you're only keeping Cat to keep your appearance?! You don't care that those two girls are destroying themselves by hiding their emotions? You can stop this before it gets too far! You're being so incredibly selfish! It's Cat's life!"

"You don't understand!" Tom yelled back.

"Oh, but I do. Jade warned me about you. You don't physically do anything to keep Cat with you, but somehow you are giving her a guilt trip so she doesn't break up with you herself. You're sick!"

Tom started laughing and placed his hands on his hips. "You know Tori, you're a smart girl. Believe what you want. But I keep telling you… I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm not the one hurting Cat. Your friend Jade is." With that he stuffed his laptop into his bag and shouldered it, leaving her in the room alone. Tori couldn't believe what just happened. She sank into a chair with her shoulders slumped. _Now what?_

.

Beck stared at Jade in disbelief. "But I thought we were cool now…" Jade shrugged her shoulders, not looking him in the eye. "I meant what I said last night. Everything that has happened has really opened my eyes. I hate to admit defeat but we are not working out."

"Wait a minute, I apologized. You haven't even given me a reason as to why you're breaking up with me!"

"It's pretty damn obvious!" Jade shouted at him. "You had no right to my private life and yet you felt since you were my boyfriend that you were entitled to go behind my back! Well no more, pretty boy!"

"Fine! You wanna be unreasonable that way and be a complete bitch about it, then fine! I was only worried about you! But I guess you wouldn't know what it means to be worried about someone you love huh?" Beck took a few steps back, raising both his hands in defeat. "I tried to make peace but clearly you only want War so I'm gone then!" he backed away, eyes on Jade who stood defiantly with her arms crossed with a death glare. He then turned and left the building with a slam of doors. Nobody was around so Jade slid against the lockers to the floor. She sipped from her cup, finding it was empty; she angrily threw it across the hall. _And now?_

Just then Tom came around the corner and Jade tensed up when she saw him. Tensed up like a dog ready to bite. He saw her and approached her. She stood up, unsure of why he was coming near her.

"Hi Jade," he said with a brilliant smile. Jade mumbled a greeting.

"I heard you and Beck broke up."

"So?" she sneered, rolling her eyes disgustingly at him. "So," he said stepping up to her until he was in her face. "If you think you are free to pursue Cat, you're wrong." Jade's eyes narrowed at him in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"I would like to ask you nicely to stay away from her. She's my girlfriend, Jade. Don't be getting any ideas or you'll regret it." He then turned and walked away.

_Was that a threat?_ But she let him walk away but quickly turned to glower at his back. "I can have anyone I want. Lucky for you, I'm not interested," she said slowly with an icy calculating tone. Tom stopped and smiled but never looked back. "Sure. Keep telling yourself that. I'm sure you'll believe it in time. Heck, you'll be doing me a favor."

As he walked away he could feel daggers on his back. He had a feeling she would be difficult. He would need help on this one and he knew where to get it.

.


	13. Chapter 13

Jade was performing. It was her turn on the spotlight. Her theme was dark as always. Gothic doll like dancers moved about the stage. Jade herself was dressed in a dark fluffy skirt, black tights with her black pumps, hair tousled as if the hair dresser had given up on it. She sang into the mic loud and strong. Although her song was brooding, the audience was thoroughly enjoying her performance. It was her liveliest performance yet. It sounded angry yet uplifting. She ended her song with a loud, "It's too bad you think you've won!"

The crowd erupted in cheers and Jade felt immensely pleased they liked it. She stepped into the backstage and was greeted by Cat and Tori who were up next. Cat waved at her and Jade ignored her as usual. She saw Cat's face smiling face lose its luster even as she continued smiling. Typical Cat, Jade thought, always trying to keep a front. She stopped in her tracks to look back at the girls but they had already climbed onto the stage. The crowd cheered as they introduced themselves. Andre was bustling with a girl guitarist he had found at the last minute. They had hit it off pretty fast and were bonding over the new song he had created. Robbie was going to do a stand-up comedy act with Rex. That ought to go well. Beck was nowhere to be found, thank goodness.

Just as she was heading to the dressing rooms he came out all decked out in clean jeans and a blazer, with his hair combed back. She rolled her eyes, annoyed she had run into him. Beck only pursed his lips.

"I see you're still glad to see me," Beck said, smoothing his hair back. "Thrilled," she sneered pushing past him and slamming the door at his back. The rooms weren't sound proof; she could hear the girls' performance, made out Tori's deep voice and Cat's strong and powerful one. The two made a good pair but Jade felt that Cat was better paired with her. She shook her hair, swearing at herself.

After the girls' performance came Andre's song and then a different student she's never heard of, a girl with the voice of an angel. Jade sat listening to it, staring into the blank wall. Was the song original? But she couldn't help but feel like she had heard the song before. The song was slow, melancholy, played with a deep bass in the background, rising and falling. A deep song. It left the auditorium hushed and then applause as it finished. _Huh…_

After her came Tom's performance and then Beck's. _Ugh was this the jackass playlist?_ She stood up and played the radio loud as she started to undress. After a few minutes the song that she taught Cat to dance to tuned on. Images of her getting closer to Cat, nearly tormenting herself whether to kiss the girl or not. She froze in her movements as she got a wave of nostalgia. All the emotions of confusion, love, sadness, hate and anger battered against her. She angrily swiped, with her arm, the contents of the dressing table to the floor with a loud crash. She placed her hands on the table and leaned in on them, hanging her head.

_"I can have anyone I want. Lucky for you I'm not interested," _she heard her own voice echo in her head.

_"Sure. Keep telling yourself that. I'm sure you'll believe it in time. Heck, you'll be doing me a favor."_ She sickened at remembering Tom's words. She looked up and stared at her reflection, snarled and thrust a punch into the glass, shattering it in a loud crash.

"Jadey?!" Came Cat's voice in alarm. She was standing at the door and Jade hadn't heard her come in. Jade rushed past her, down the hall, escaping view. Cat didn't follow but Tori came up behind Cat and shouted in surprise at seeing the blood. "What happened?!"

"I think Jade's angry…"

.

Jade was swearing under her breath, she didn't mean to bust her knuckle. She tried her best to stop from bleeding all over the floor and on her black skirt. Luckily nobody was around, all still at the auditorium. She rushed to the nurses' office, yelling for the nurse's attention, but she wasn't in. Frantically, Jade went to the cabinet where she knew the gauze was kept and tried to unroll it with her left hand. The damn thing clumsily clambered around her hand and fell to the floor, rolling under the bed. She swore out loud and knelt to look for it. Still unable to reach it, she got on her stomach and tried again.

"Do you need help?" came a voice behind her, surprising her as she banged her head trying to turn around to see who it was, rolling to her knees. A girl she had never seen before stood before her, bending down to Jade's current height like addressing a child. Jade couldn't help but stare. The girl had the richest dark brown eyes, framed by tawny hair in perfectly sculpted waves. Her skin was as soft and smooth as milk. Then she smiled with her soft dark red lips as if reassuring a child she was safe to talk to. Jade quickly pulled herself together but still no audible words came out.

"Oh my god! Your hand! We need to wash that!" The girl then grabbed Jade's left arm and helped her stand and led her to the sink to clean the wound. Jade hissed as the cold water hit her hand.

"Oh I'm so sorry, must've hurt like a bitch…"

Jade grinned at the other girls cursing. "What happened?" the girl asked as she pulled Jade's hand to the counter to apply anti-infection cream but caught sight of tiny glints in her wound. "Not sure…" Jade replied. _Where did this girl come from? _She looked awfully young to be the new nurse… "You the nurse?"

The girl giggled. "Noooooo. I just come to help once in a while when she's too busy with other things. I'm sorry, I didn't think I was away that long, went to grab a few cleaning supplies from the janitors closet and I came back, discovered a blood trail and found you bleeding on the floor."

"Ah crap, I'm real sorry … about that," Jade glanced over at the trail of blood she had led into the room.

"It's alright…" the girl was intent on gently using plastic tweezers to pull out tiny shards of broken mirror. "Well I'm not sure what you disagreed with the mirror but I think you are a lovely girl," she said with a warm smile, not glancing up just yet. She gently dabbed the knuckle with a swab of alcohol. Jade hissed again then grinned. "You like doing that, into S&M much?"

That got a wide smile from the girl as she bandaged her knuckle carefully after applying the polysporin. "I prefer the no blood routine," she said flashing her a brilliant smile once again. "There, all patched up for now. But you will need to change the bandage at least twice a day, once before bed and once in the morning. If you'd like, the nurse can take a look at it to see if it's healing alright."

Jade nodded without saying a word, examining the bandage work.

"It's on alright, I promise," the girl said softly, leaning in to double check. Jade caught the scent of her hair and silently took a long whiff. It made her slightly dizzy but surprisingly happier. "Name's Jade," She said softly_. Completely out of character Jade_.

The girl smiled and nodded, "Ah the infamous Jade West. I've heard of you but admittedly haven't seen you till now." The girl started packing up the counter and Jade couldn't bring herself to leave. Not until she got a name anyway, but how to ask that indirectly? The girl picked up her bag and turned around to face Jade, dark eyes soft. "A pleasure Miss. West, I'm Reine Kali. We'll be meeting again if you continue to be clumsy." She gave a lopsided grin, teasing Jade, and then waving turned and left the room. Just then the nurse walked in and upon seeing Jade's bandaged hand asked what had happened. Jade made up an excuse and walked out, intent on getting a cup of coffee.

.

The show was long over and now the halls were full of people bustling about again. Beck and Tori were talking at the end of the hallway; she wanted to tell him that he shouldn't take the breakup too hard. It was bound to happen if Jade and Cat continued the way they were going. Now all that was left was to get Cat away from Tom and all would be perfect. Jade would be happy and everyone's nervousness of Jade getting her revenge would go away. Andre had honestly been apprehensive and Robbie had gone into hiding. Cat however was carefree as always. Light headed and bouncy. But Tori knew that could be the pills talking. She worried more and more about the girl as each day went by. Even if she managed to get her to stop taking them, the withdrawal could be drastic and she'd have to go to rehab to recover.

"It's fine," Beck shrugged, "I know I messed up but I actually didn't think it'd end. Maybe if I just gave her time, she usually comes back." Tori grabbed his arms, "Beck, no, It's done. You have to let her go. You guys need to move on. Find a nice girl who will treat you right and actually not jump to conclusions or any jealous bouts. You know you deserve better." She chewed her lip, she hated having to throw Jade out like that but she had to point out that Beck needed someone else.

She was on team Jade and Cat. They needed each other. Beck sighed heavily and nodded, "You're right…" then he smiled at a girl passing by who looked at him twice to make sure it was at her he was smiling at before disappearing with a blush.

"There, see?" Tori lightly punched his arm playfully. "No worries Mr. Hotstuff!" He then chuckled.

.

Tom had managed to get a hold of Cat and sat her down at the fountain so they could plan for a long weekend. Cat however was all over the place. "Hey, do you wanna dance?" she asked bright eyed. Tom half smiled but was also half worried. How many of those pills was she taking daily? Cat wrapped her arms around his throat and clung to him, giggling into his chest. "Okaaaaaaaaay," he said finally and lifted her up. "Taking you for some fresh air."

"Kay kay!" she said excitedly and wrapped her legs around his waist like a child. He carried her out and tried to set her down but she wouldn't detach herself so he sat down with her legs encircling his hips. She was finally quiet and calmed down. She then softly spoke. "I'm sorry…"

He knew what it was for and nodded, gently caressing her back comfortingly. He then began to sing softly to her. "You're just too good to be true …" This made Cat smile sadly and she buried her face in his neck.

.

Jade had gotten her tumbler full of coffee from the cafeteria and now was feeling a lot better. Not only that lifted up her spirits, it was also that it had to do with having a conversation with someone who didn't deter her neither negatively or positively. A neutral type of person. However Jade had never seen or heard of this Reine before. Just then a few kids walked by with an ipear2 replaying the show they had recorded earlier. The melancholy song she had heard earlier. She grabbed it from them and her eyes widened. The singer was sitting on a stool in a dark dress with red ribbons in her tawny hair, playing the bass as she sang into the mic with her eyes closed. It was Reine!

The boys looked at each other nervously. "Caaaaan I have it back?" Jade shoved it into his chest and pushed past him. That song had actually tugged at her and she felt as if the girl was a kindred spirit. She had to find her.

Tori came across Jade as she hurried past her. "Hey, Jade! Hey!" Tori spun around to follow her but stopped. "I want to talk to you about Cat!" But Jade ignored her, Reine was in her sight. The girl unknowingly was being followed, she climbed the steps in her knee high boots and turned around to grab her skirt that was being pulled on… by Jade. Her eyes enlarged for a second and then she smirked. "Stalking me now? Are we beginning to realize you are a masochist?"

Jade only stared at her in the eyes, looking up at her intently from the bottom of the stairs. Reine's smile slowly faded, now wondering what Jade wanted. Jade climbed the steps two at a time and stood in front of her now. Her lips moved and Reine only stared up at her in wonder.

Tori was now utterly confused. _What was going on? _Did she hear that correctly?

And as if Tori had asked the question that was in Reine's eyes, Jade repeated it. "Go out with me."

.


	14. Chapter 14

Reine smiled and nodded to herself. "And by that you mean for coffee right?"

It took Jade a few seconds but she quickly realized how wrong her question was. "Yes, that. Exactly."

Reine's gaze was transfixed on Jades tumbler. "You've run out?"

Jade threw it over her shoulder, hitting a random kid going by. "Oh my god flying tumblers!" Sinjin cried out gleefully, chasing after the rolling object. "Full of drink!" then he ran off. Jade raised her arms, "That was actually my favorite one too." Reine laughed, covering her mouth with her sleeve. "You are an unpredictable character Jade West."

"So is that a yes?" Jade asked, cocking her head to the side with her own smirk of conquest. After a few seconds, Reine nodded. "Sure, why not." They left the building together, smiling at each other, leaving Tori perplexed as always. She bit her lip then with a confused face, turned around and walked to her locker to get ready to leave.

.

Cat and Tom were still outside far to the side sitting on the steps talking. Cat seemed worried for a second to what Tom was saying but then he said something funny and she burst out laughing with her huge smile that he had fallen in love with. He liked it when she laughed or smiled. If he could he would make it his mission to make it happen always.

Jade and Reine stalked off the steps a few feet away from the lovers, completely immersed in their conversation. Cat caught sight of them and watched Jade's back as her form receded from the corner wall. She heard Jade's laugh and it immediately filled her with warmth.

"Cat did you hear me just now?" Tom asked, waving his fingers in front of Cat's face. Cat looked at Tom as if just remembering he was there. "I'm sorry." Tom pursed his lips and saw Jade and Reine drive off. So that was what was distracting her. He still managed to force a smile. "How about we go eat?"

"Yay! Sounds good!" Cat cheered up instantly, forgetting the last minute.

.

Three nights later after hanging out almost every day Reine had invited Jade to her place for a song writing. Reine leafed through Jades song book. Jade was feeling anxious that Reine was so comfortably invading her cherished things. Reine stopped as she stared at a page. "That's moving," she said softly, looking up at Jade. Jade's eyes lowered and she looked away. She tampered with the bandage on her hand, making Reine quickly grab her other hand to stop her. "Does it itch? I'll change it." She pulled Jade into the bathroom and sat her on the edge of the bathtub as she pulled out bandages from behind the mirror. She sat on the toilet seat with the top down, unwrapping Jade's hand. It was healing nicely but still needed to be tended to.

Jade stared at the slender fingers hold her hand upright as she applied more ointment. Stared at the lashes lower as she concentrated on the wound, so calm and relaxed, in turn calming Jade at the same time. "Looks much better now," she quipped with a hint of happiness. Jade only watched her work before breaking the silence, "If you hadn't fixed it, I wouldn't have minded. Physical wounds even if unattended heal with time…"

Reine knew where that tone was coming from and didn't ignore it. "Sometimes you need someone to show compassion and it makes things easier to bear," she said almost a whisper. She had seen Jade's scars on her wrists earlier after she had reached over her for a shake of nutmeg for their coffee. She hadn't said a word about it. Whatever internal battle Jade was facing she was willing to help if she asked or in this case if she would let her.

"The heart isn't so easy to mend…" Reine continued, her voice hushed as she gently massaged the ointment in. "Especially when that person is oblivious to said pain…"

That made Jade lose the little bit of control she had near Reine, a single tear rolled down her left cheek. Reine lifted her head and her heart compassioned for the girl. She knew the cut was no longer hurting her enough to cry about it. It looked like she had recalled a sad memory. She drew her in for a hug, caressing her hair and Jade sobbed into her arm, gripping her sweater tightly. "Why can't I let go?"

"It's okay, It's okay," Reine whispered over and over as if comforting a child who had skinned their knee. Jade tried to stop crying but the more she tried the more her tears spilled. Thankfully Reines sweater was black, Jade's eyeliner kept smudging onto her cheeks and the fabric.

"Do they know how you feel?" Reine asked tenderly.

Jade was quiet a while. "She's so beautiful…" She whispered, mostly to herself. "She cares so much for everyone. If she knows, then she's being cruel." _So it was towards a girl_, Reine didn't say anything.

"I feel as though she fills me up and I feel complete when she's near me but when she is apart from me, loving someone else, she sucks the life out of my heart…especially…" Reine looked down at her hair. "When she's given him everything."

Reine was quiet a few moments then she continued to caress Jade's hair. "These things happen. I just hope that she doesn't think she gave herself away for nothing. You can't make her feel like it's her fault you feel this way. You should've told her before any of this started. Why do you pretend to be so strong? Or maybe you're afraid of rejection? If you ask me, it's cowardice."

Jade slowly pulled away from her. _Where was she going with this?_ "I'm not afraid!"

"Then tell her."

Jade shook her head, wiping her eyes with her sleeves. She slumped in her seat and hung her head in her hands. "I am a coward_." How was Reine pulling out these emotions so easily_? They were talking as if they'd been friends for years. No. The one she was friends with for years was being neglected and given the cold shoulder as if she should know what Jade's turmoil was. She lifted her head and smoothed her hair over her head, taking in a deep breath she began to sing. "Nobody else could be nearly as cruel as you, as you..."

Reine helped her stand and leaded them to her bedroom. She sat Jade on the bed, she gathered her guitar and sat across from Jade. She tuned it and then gave her a nod.

_"It's my last big breath what you want me to do?_

_When you act all cool like you already knew_

_That I'll be stuck here cold just waiting it through_

_'Til your heart starts beating for that somebody new_

_You know that it's true'_

_'Cause it's beautiful people like you_

_Who get whatever they want_

_And it's beautiful people like you_

_Who suck the life right outta my heart_

_And it's beautiful people like you_

_Who make me crrrrrrrry_

_'Cause nobody else could be nearly as cruel as you"_

_Reine then nodded and she began to sing the second part. _

_"It's a wicked game that you're making me play,_

_Where I crawl back home as you're walking away,_

_And it's all quite clear what you want me to say,_

_But you'll be so long gone if I ask you to stay_

_You know that it's true." _

_Then Jade and Reine sang together in sync. _

_"Cause it's beautiful people like you_

_Who get whatever they want, _

_And it's beautiful people like you,_

_Who suck the life right outta my heart,_

_And it's beautiful people like you,_

_Who make me crrrrrry,_

_'Cause nobody else could be nearly as cruel as you."_

As the song ended Reine reached over and patted Jade's hand with a comforting smile.

.

Cat woke up with a start. She panicked not realizing where she was. Tom stirred beside her and his arm closed around her protectively. She turned her head and saw the tv was on and the VCR had long ended leaving the room with a blue glow. She sighed in relief realizing she was in Tom's room. They had both dozed off. Cat had woken up in sheer fear but she couldn't remember what it was. Tom woke up and saw her snuggled up to him. His heart warmed up and he hugged her closer to him and heard her giggle. "Heeey, how long have you been awake?" he said his voice still deep. She hugged his chest, giggling. "You look so cute asleep." He chuckled and kissed her forehead. They decided to call it a night and he drove her home. He didn't suggest her staying over at his place. He wanted to protect her from rumors. Even though it looked like she was spreading them herself. But as long as she was content. Once they got to her driveway he stopped the car and waited a few moments when she wasn't getting out.

"Hey, I was wondering." He began. Cat turned to him expectantly, large brown eyes fixed on him. "Whaty?"

"Have…" He tested the question first in his head. "Have you and Jade been getting along?"

Cat slouched in her seat and folded her arms and stared out the window with a sulking face. Tom pursed his lips but tried to smile. "See? She makes you upset huh? Have you been taking your medicine?" he asked carefully, looking over at her. She didn't answer. He proceeded to go into her bag and rummaging through it found the large bottle. "You have it with you at all times? How many of these do you take?"

Cat played with her hair now. "About four a day…"

"What!? Cat you're only supposed to take one a day! Are you serious!?"

Now Cat was apprehensive, "You told me to take them whenever I felt pain!"

"But Cat I meant to also follow the instructions-" Cat covered her ears and scrunched up her face, she didn't like to be scolded. Tom quickly stopped and slumped back in his seat. He felt defeated. Whatever he tried to do always made him seem like a villain. He sighed and got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side and opened the door for her. He extended his hand to her and she shyly took it. He gave her a gentle smile and turned to lead her to her door when suddenly she clung to his neck. He gave her a quizzical smile and asked what was up. Her eyes were dreamy like and she gave him a lopsided smile, exposing her dimple. "Heeeeeey," she said huskily as if she had just woken up. "Do you wanna come in and sleep with me again?"

Tom bit his lip and he slouched, trying to get her to stand properly. "Cat, we never did anything. We didn't sleep together; stop telling your friends that…" Cat pouted remembering.

"I know," she pulled him into a hug, pulling his head down to her face and she whispered into his ear. "I'm ready now. I want to make love to you," she whispered in his ear. Tom shivered and he clutched her tighter, trying to protest. "No, it's okay. We're both really tired…"

She ignored him and licked his neck up slowly, enjoying the smell of his shampoo, caressing his scalp with her fingers. She closed her eyes and breathed in his scent. He smelled like fresh brewed coffee that he had made in order to stay awake while he drove her home. She loved that smell, smelled of someone she felt forbidden to have. She ran her hands down and up the back of his neck, constantly caressing the skin with her lips. Even though she's never heard Jade giggle suddenly she heard her chuckle in her ear and asked what she was doing, to Cat. She ran her lips across Tom's softly, brushing them sweetly. Cat smiled and hugged the person tighter. "I love you," she whispered into the shoulder.

He then laughed and the sound rumbled in his chest, making Cat wake up with her eyes wide. She pulled back, wide awake and looked around her sideways. She caught Tom's worried eyes. She swallowed hard and wrapped her arms around herself from the chill. "You're right I guess," she said quickly, pulling away at her own hair. "It really is late. I should go inside." She turned and walked up to her door.

"Uhm Cat." She turned to see him still standing in the driveway with the headlights at his back. "Yea?"

"I love you too…" If she could see his face she would've seen his painful smile. She nodded with a smile and waving she went inside. She waited behind the door until she heard him drive out of the driveway. She went to her room and sat on her bed, she stripped off her clothes and put on a loose shirt he had given her. She sat still for a few minutes, looking at her bag on the dresser. He had taken the bottle but she had kept a stash in her underwear drawer. She was only supposed to take them when she was in pain. She furrowed her eyebrows, thinking twice about it, she got up and opened the drawer and took one out, popping it into her mouth and swallowed a glass of water she had on the table.

She grabbed her purple giraffe and hugged him to her chest. "It's Tom I love right Mr. Purple?" she played with his front legs. She then giggled how cute it made him see. "You're right of course. Heeey do you want to play dress up? You looked so pretty in your hat last time!" she giggled and lay back on the bed. Within seconds she fell asleep. She began dreaming.

Tom and Jade were standing side by side, staring at the floor made of glass and underneath it a view of the drop hundreds of feet down. A crack splintered by Tom's feet and he only stared at it with an expressionless face. Cat screamed for him to get away from there but Jade grabbed his hand and all of the sudden in a flash, Tom had a gun to Jade's face and she had a hunting knife to his throat, already pressing it, neither showing emotion still. Cat screamed for them to stop but she couldn't seem to move, as if frozen in place. The cracks webbed around both of their feet now and the place began to shake like an earthquake. At the last second as they began to fall, Cat lurched forward, arms extended to catch them but they vanished from sight. She slammed onto her knees onto solid floor. She raked the floor with her nails screaming their names over and over.

Suddenly she awoke full of sweat and gasping in deep breaths. She climbed out of bed and popped another pill in. She shook her head and took another, gulping water, suddenly afraid to face reality. She lay on the floor in a fetal position, rocking, crying and whispering. "I'll save Tom. I'll save Tom. I'll save Tom. I'll save Tom. I'll save Tom." After an hour she cried herself to sleep, breathing and heart beat slowing down.

.


	15. Chapter 15

**_Forgot to mention that in chapter 14, the song Reine and Jade sing is "Beautiful people by Cher lloyd" Inspiring._**

...

...

Andre had just finished showing Beck a video on his phone when Tori came rushing in. "Oh my god did you guys hear!?"

"What about?" Beck asked lifting his eyes from the cell. Suddenly screeches came from down the hall. "Sinjin Damnit, give it back! It's mine! I'll kill you!" out from around the corner Sinjin came dashing out, pale as a ghost, clutching an item in his arms. "Save me!" he screeched in a high pitch voice. Jade then tackled him, sending them both sailing across the floor, she was strangling him while he tried to hand Tori a tumbler, pleadingly, "Hold this for me! If I die, keep it as a memento of me!"

Jade sprang to her feet and glared at Tori. Tori backed away suddenly fearful. Jade thrust a hand out. "Be a good girl and give it here," She seethed through her teeth. Tori then ran, screaming, not letting go of the tumbler with an infuriated Jade hot on her heels.

.

Tori slowly rose to her feet, perspiring a little. She ran her hands through her hair and straightened her clothes. She sighed heavily and reached over for a bottle of water and took a long chug. "You're crazy," she breathed out finally. Jade stood over a metal trash bin and watched as she dropped the tumbler inside. Tori raised her eyebrows and stared at it inside. "Thought that was your favorite."

Jade then lit a match and tossed it inside. Tori gasped. "What?!"

Jade turned to her and crossed her arms. "Of course it's my favorite. Sinjin's lips were on it. I wasn't taking it back. I'd rather burn it than let anyone have it."

Tori rolled her eyes. "You're so crazy…" She quickly looked again at a lurid smell in the bin. "Is that combustible?" Jade shrugged. All of the sudden the bin exploded in a mini rampant, scaring both girls. Jade was the type that froze momentarily when she was scared and Tori always ran at anything that scared her so naturally she tried to run but smacked right into an immobilized Jade. They toppled to the ground in shock. Jade fell on her back and Tori landed on top of her, knocking the air out of her. Jade lay stunned at her aching back, she gripped Tori's arms and tried to push her off until she realized where Tori's face had ended up. Tori apologized profusely, turning red, trying desperately to untangle her legs from the other girls. "Ow! Damnit, Vega hold still!" Jade tried to raise herself on her elbows but Tori was so flustered she jerked her head up and accidentally bumped lips with Jade making her gasp. She got up to her knees and bolted the other way, forgetting her bag.

Jade lay still, half raised on her elbows. "Annoying Vega…" she sighed and let her head hang back, brushing the ground with her hair. "Wow… that cloud looks like a dog being mauled by a bunny."

.

Tori aimed directly to her locker in a rush, unaware she had ignored Andre and Beck. "Hey what happened?"

"What?" Tori spun around wide eyed. "Jade. Did she get you?" Beck asked, prompting with a head nod. "She got nothing from me!" Tori exclaimed loudly. Then nervously shut her locker upon finding that she forgot her bag at the trash bin where she had left Jade … lying …on the sidewalk. She covered her face turning bright red. "Oh my god, Cat's gonna hate me…" she murmured in dismay.

"Speaking of which, where is Cat?" Tori raised her head, noticing that the boys were right. "Sick?"

.

Cat sat quietly in Tom's car. He had gone to pick her up when she didn't show up to his acting class. If she was sick he'd let her stay home but she had insisted she had felt fine except her eyes were puffy. She had tried all kinds of remedies, even placing a frozen meatball to her eyes as she had seen her brother do at times. It helped a little but now she smelled like meatballs. She had given up, did her makeup and rushed out the door to meet Tom to prevent him from entering her room. Even though she woke up late, the afternoon could be salvaged.

.

Reine walked up to the school grounds and stopped short in her tracks when she Jade just lying on the ground leisurely with a trash bin on fire in her midst. She raised her eyebrows and walked over to her. "Hello?" Jade didn't look at her but rolled her head to the side. "Hm." She got up to her elbows as if it was the comfiest she had ever been. Students that walked by stared in passing. Reine only returned their stare and looked away. "I- have no idea."

Reine then knelt down, placed her bag on the concrete and leaned over Jade, putting her hands on either side of her waist. "Earth to Jaaaaade."

.

Cat entered the school grounds and even though Tom was chatting with her, she was distracted by what she saw in the distance. Jade was lying on the ground, half raised on her elbows, one knee up and another girl was leaning over her, long brown hair covering their faces. _Was she kissing Jade!? _Cat sucked in a breath, suddenly feeling pangs of jealousy. So Jade was actually into girls? Why did she feel like she JUST missed that boat? She quickly reminded herself that she had Tom. She gripped his arm and hurried them inside. What Jade did was her business. Still she bit her lip in remorse.

When she entered the school she was instantly surrounded by Robbie, Andre and Beck, they clutched her arms and hauled her away from Tom who had come up behind her. "Heeeeey, what's going on?" Cat tried not to giggle at all the male attention. They came to the acting room and sat her down. Noticing Cat's attitude lately, Tori and Andre had quickly written a song to cheer her up. Within the last 10 minutes. It was only a two minute song but Cat was bouncing in her seat, gleefully giggling and shying away into Beck's chest. He rubbed her back with a smile on his face while Robbie gave her candy.

Cat got up and started to dance. Then they all got caught up into it, finding it hilarious that she was so pumped up. Tori's expression went from joy to concern when Cat wouldn't stop giggling. She made beck give her water and told her to relax back on the chair. "You guys are really sweet! Thanks for the cute song!" Cat hugged Tori tightly. Tori cringed in the hug. Cat's hug, instead of being a warm, bubbly feeling, felt like ice, even though it was incredibly hot outside. Cat was bouncing so much that she eventually went slack against Tori. Tori quickly caught her, calling for Beck, panicking. Beck picked her up bridal style. Andre noticed she was burning up. "What? She was ice cold just a second ago!" Tori exclaimed.

"We gotta take her to the nurse," Beck weaved his way through students in the hallway, hurrying over to the nurse's office.

.

The nurse sighed. "Are you kids taking your studies a little too hard?" Cat had woken up after fifteen minutes wide awake. Tori and Andre were with her the entire time. They all shook their heads, saying that wasn't it. The nurse got up and walked off to document it in her log book. She shook her head as she mumbled, "First Jade, then Tori and now Cat."

Cat's eyes sprang up to look at Tori who was petting her hair. "What happened?"

Tori stammered, suddenly embarrassed. "W-w-well… it's… I-I… Uhhhh…"

"She fainted too," Andre said and as if it was no secret he added. "She kissed Jade." When it was clearly too much to hold in, Tori had blurted out what she did and when they were all shocked Tori had fainted.

Cat's eyes widened. "WHAT?!" Tori slowly backed away, suddenly fearful. An angry kitty cat was something to be feared. Cat got out of bed and stalked to her. "WHY? WHAT DID YOU DO?"

Tori covered her head, "I didn't do anything I promise! It was an accident!"

"Beck, that girl and now you! Am I the only one in this school who hasn't kissed her!?"

Andre awkwardly raised his hand but lowered it as soon as the girls shot him a look. Tori rolled her eyes, "Cat it didn't mean anything, honest, it was just an accident. I fell –"

"Give it to me," Cat demanded impudently. Tori gave her a confused look. "Say what now?"

"I said give me Jade's kiss!" Abruptly Cat grabbed Tori's head and yanked her head towards her face and pressed her red lips to Tori's tightly, squeezing her eyes shut. Tori eyes widened and she gave a muffled cry, flailing her arms in surprise. Andre's eyes arched in confusion and surprising mirth. This was too amusing.

"What is going on with you weird people?"

Tori yanked back sharply away from Cat who wouldn't let go of her shoulders. "JADE!" Jade stood at the doorway, frozen in place when she realised that Tori had been lip locked with Cat. She heaved a deep breath to remain calm and force a sinister smirk. "Tori, I never knew. Was I practice?"

Tori and Cat were both pale and stammering but nothing audible came out. The look on Jade's face was unmistakeable; it was her 'just you wait' look. Cat stood staring at Jade innocently as if what she did was normal. Tori hyperventilated then fainted, collapsing to the ground. Andre's arms flew up in the air, not knowing what to do. "What is going on here?!"

.

Cat approached the nurses' room after seeing Tori to her class. She had heard the nurse say that Reine should take her spot until she got back from the conference meeting in the staff room. She had figured out her name while spying on her. Cat entered the room slowly when Reine was sitting at the desk, writing something in a binder. She didn't seem to hear the red head approach her. "So, it's you."

Reine looked up slowly then cocked her head to the side. Then she smirked, leaning back on the chair with her arms crossed. "Now, that's not nice."

Cat's hands flew to her temples as she felt a headache come on. Reine began to get up in concern but Cat ushered her back to sit down. Reine sat back and waited for Cat to continue. "Want to tell me what you're accusing me of?"

"Your relationship…" Cat played with the frayed ends of her skirt, pausing.

"My relationship? With?" Reine prompted.

"You know who. I saw you two kissing."

Now Reine was even more confused but she smiled none the less. She stood up slowly and approached the red head. "I see. So you're Caterina. Well miss Valentine," Reine leaned in to her face with her arms crossed. "Who I kiss is none of your business. Just as you dating that boy has nothing to do with me neither does this. Am I right?" Reine then turned to close her book and pack up when Cat spoke up suddenly. "You shouldn't toy with people's emotions you know."

Reine chuckled shaking her head. "Ohhhh sweet little kitty cat, you would know right?" she turned around and gave Cat a look that Jade often gave when she had had enough of a conversation. Cat bit her lip and looked away.

Reine folded her arms over her chest and came up to Cat again. "Tell me Cat, do you even know what you want?"

"I can't pick…"

"Oh, you picked alright."

"I had no choice!"

"What are you talking about? No one held a gun at you."

Cat got all flustered, "N-no. What? No. It's just… I…" She heaved a heavy sigh. "I don't know why I did it. Wait, what are we talking about…" Cat looked over at Reine who had gotten pretty close. Cat saw how pretty the girl was, she wouldn't blame anyone for falling for her. _Wait, was this the challenge?_

Cat had spaced out when she realized Reine had leaned in to peck her lips softly. Cat's eyes fluttered in shock and bewilderment. Reine smirked pulling away. "I'll deliver that for you." Then she walked out, humming to herself. Cat stood still as the doors closed behind the girl, wondering where her kiss was going to end up.

.

Jade lay on her bed on her back, reading lyrics Reine had written earlier. Reine was lying at her head on her stomach reading a magazine, kicking her feet up, waiting for Jade's critique. Jade lowered the pages raising a quizzical eyebrow. "Just what was going on your mind when you wrote this."

Reine chuckled not looking over, "High school drama."

"Ugh," Jade threw the pages onto her face, burying herself under them. Reine stopped kicking her feet and she looked over at Jade's still form. She lifted the pages up to see the other girls eyes shut, her long dark eyelashes shadowing on her cheeks. Reine reached over and gently gripped her jawline and ever so slowly leaned over, gently pressing her lips tenderly against Jade's. Jade slowly opened her eyes as Reine pulled away but not letting go of her face. "From Cat," Reine replied to Jade's questioning expression. Jade closed her eyes again with a groan. "What is wrong with that girl…"

Jade then reached up and tugged Reine's face back down and accepted her mouth this time, parting her dark lips to catch the other girl's lip in between hers.

.


	16. Chapter 16

Cat caroused through the halls swaying the hem of her short but frilly skirt. She was smiling as usual, it was her mask as she had acknowledged it. She didn't care who figured it out but for now she was going to be happy even if she didn't feel like it. She saw that her friends had been worried about her and she was going to try her best to keep them calm. No one liked to worry. Especially for a friend they found dear. Cat almost made it to her locker when she heard music coming from the instrument class. A guitar was playing an upbeat tune. It pulled her in and she expected to see a room of kids with a stereo playing but what she saw was something she hadn't expected.

Reine was sitting by herself on the edge of the stage and apparently playing the electric guitar. Left handed it seemed. Cat inched close and listened, leaning forward against the door. The song was unfamiliar but she did notice how fast Reine's fingers were moving. Cat tilted her head to the side and before she knew it she was standing to the side behind the girl. Reine hadn't noticed her yet and continued her playing, bobbing her head and grinning to herself. She looked up for a quick glance and noticed Cat staring at her. Instead of stopping she continued with a different song, giving Cat a smirk. Cat raised her eyebrows at the inviting smile. She then got closer and stood directly in front of her, staring down at her. All of the sudden Reine started to sing to her, looking up at her. Awkwardly enough Cat felt a blush creep on her cheeks. She knew it was a faster version of a love song. But she wasn't familiar with the lyrics herself. All the while Reine kept her unblinking gaze, making Cat feel all kinds of confusion.

_"My eyes become large and the light that you shine can be seen. Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the gray. _

_Ooooooh, the more I get of you, the stranger it feels, Yeaaaaah_

_now that your rose is in bloom, a light hits the gloom on the gray."_

Then Reine swung up her guitar, shredded it then pulled it into an abrupt stop. Cat slowly exhaled; she hadn't realized she was holding it in. Reine smirked at her then pulled the strap off her shoulders. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Cat stood silently, kept her eyes downcast but was fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. Reine only smiled and stood up, packed up her guitar and holstered the strap to her shoulder. She leaned over Cat, getting in nice and close. "I delivered your kiss," she whispered. Cat's eyes widened and her head snapped up. Reine smirked with her shiny pink lips and the petite girl couldn't help but stare at them longingly.

"What is it? Want to steal it from my lips?"

Cat turned away sharply. "Not particularly."

"Oh? Are you sure? Then maybe you will deliver it yourself this time?"

"I didn't ask you to."

"Aww kitty, I did you a favor. Something you don't have the guts to do."

Cat grabbed her head in her hands, confused to no end. "What are you even saying?"

"It seems to me as though you're not strong enough. I can help you, ya know?" Reine said, circling the red head who slowly put her hands down. "In what?"

Reine smiled, "Let's just say. I know how to approach people like Jade. Hm?" Cat pondered a second but was intensely curious. She had been thinking far too much about Jade as of late, when she was kissing or having an intimate moment with Tom, she was wishing it was Jade. It was too much. To the point where Cat accepted that it was obsession. She cringed to herself when she realized her mask was slipping. She quickly brightened up as if she had thought of something. Reine pulled away at seeing her face lit up, smiling, thinking that she had taken Reine up on her offer. "Wait, no I can't."

Reine rolled her eyes, "Come on kitty cat! Do you even like Jade?"

"Of course I do! So much!" Cat protested as if she had been told she didn't like Red Velvet Cake. "It's just…"

"Your boyfriend?" Reine said with a disapproving tone. "You don't need him you know."

Cat looked up at her defiantly, "Why does everyone think he's a bad guy! He's not!"

Reine now angrily shoved and pinned Cat to the wall where the shadows began. Cat furrowed her eyebrows in defense. Reine leaned her body into Cat's petite form. She let her hands grip the wall at the girls' side, blocking any escape. "You're right, he's not the bad guy here," she whispered fiercely. "And frankly I'm sick of watching the two of you chase each other like a puppy chasing its tail, getting nowhere, pointless and exhausting." She leaned into Cat's ear, brushing her lips against them. "You want her don't you? You want her to do this to you… pin you; let her do whatever she wants with your body. You don't even care if she physically hurts you. Maybe even emotionally, but the fact that it's her doing it all to you, forgives it all. I'm right aren't I?"

Cat turned her head to the side, swallowing hard, lips parted. She slowly looked back up at Reine. Her gaze flicked to her lips then to her eyes. "What should I do?" Reine now smiled pleased.

.

Tori was handing out flyers to passersby, she hollered out the event she was promoting. Her principal had asked, no not asked, demanded that she do it. Luckily Tori liked to help out so she had gathered Andre and Robbie to help her. They stood on the corner of the streets handing out the flyers. There was a musical gathering at a local establishment and Hollywood High was playing for the most of it. It was a very adult place but they had decided it was for good promotion. Plus everyone loved to dress up in masks.

.

Reine had approached Tori's team of pals and had asked them to be in her show. They were excited when she told them they had to be dressed up in masks. She had told Cat that she wanted her on vocals. Cat simply nodded solemnly. They did rehearsals the entire day and after school they practiced once more perfecting it. As they left Jade entered the room Reine was left in, she was playing her guitar idly. Jade recognized the tune and sat down beside her, putting her bag down. "Requiem for a Dream?"

Reine looked up at her sort of melancholy. "Yeaaa…"

Jade stared at her, "Sounding a lot like me now."

Reine scoffed in laughter, "Maybe we should stop hanging out then." But she said that rather seriously, still playing. Jade looked up at the ceiling. "You can't quit me." Reine now laughed and slapped her hand onto the strings of her guitar, stilling the noise. "Such an entertaining girl you are Jade. I can see why Cat is infatuated with you."

Jade rolled her eyes, thinking Reine was lying. Cat had never shown any interest in her at all. It was always about her boyfriend this and her boyfriend that. Jade growled in her throat when she remembered his threat to her. If she wanted Cat, she could take her away from him. _Wait, so why didn't she?_ Jade turned to look at Reine who had started playing again with a serene look on her face, as if repeating the question Jade had asked in her eyes. "I hate when you do that." But Reine chuckled.

"So I need you in my show tonight," Reine said casually as she packed up. Jade looked annoyed. "You mean where you had all them geeks rehearsing in here a few minutes ago? I don't remember getting an invitation."

Reine chuckled, "Cause what I need you for doesn't need rehearsing. But I need you there at 7pm sharp. Got it?" She didn't wait for an answer but simply looked over her shoulder with a smirk. Jade bit the inside of her lip and rolled her eyes.

.

Jade arrived five minutes after seven and was forcibly dragged around by Tori who had awkwardly approached her but had grabbed her to the dressing rooms. "Do you know what you're supposed to wear?" Jade just flopped her arms in dismissal mostly. Tori pursed her lips and grabbed Cat, "Cat, see if you can find Reine and bring her over. Go!"

"Uh, yea, okay," Cat stole one glance from Jade over her shoulder before disappearing into the curtains. "Showtime in ten people!" A megaphone shouted. Tori slapped a hand to her forehead, "Crap. Okay I gotta go get into my outfit. You stay put and grab Reine when you see her!" Jade wasn't listening. She was watching a girl help get Andre into his sequined… purple… and green… outfit. She squinted to see if it was actually Andre she was seeing. Reine got into her view and told her to get into a suit that she had prepared for her in dressing room 12. She got dressed, was sat down by a rush makeup and hair crew and was given her mask, a strange gold and black glittery eye mask.

.

Jade was the first to stroll onto the stage. Reine had told her all she had to do was sit on the chair and act uninterested as to what would happen to her. She quickly blurted out in confusion. "Just what the hell are you going to do to me?"

"Be a good girl and sit!" Reine had pushed her out and she stumbled into the spotlight. She quickly composed herself and upon seeing the lone chair, strode over and sat on it. As soon as she did the curtains behind her rose and people cheered. Reine and her band were behind Jade in their respective band space. Lights flared out and the music started. A song everyone knew so well and the band was doing a metal cover of it. And from the side came out a girl with her hair up in a high tail adorned in ribbons and glitter. She was wearing a bright short magenta dress with sequined skulls on it. She wore an eye mask as well, a red and pink glittery mask, only revealing dark red lips singing into the cordless mic with a strong voice. She sashayed slowly over to Jade in bare legs, clicking on the marble stage with black stiletto like shoes. She circled Jade as she serenated her.

Jade only gaped. _She was supposed to act uninterested? _Just then the girl belted out a long tune into the crowd and they all cheered. Jade raised her eyebrows in surprise as Tori, Andre, Beck and another girl came out to dance directly behind Jade as the singer's backup dancers. As wild as their performance was, the crowd kept cheering and screaming their names. Did Reine always gather this much attention?

.

Cat tried not to act as nervous as she felt. But she was incredibly so. She had sang in front of crowds many times but Jade was usually in the crowd where she could see her and this time Jade was behind her, watching her. Cat did her best to arch her body and show off her legs and sway her hips sensually and wiggle her shoulders, just how Jade had taught her long ago. She was more than aware that Jade was eyeing her from behind, watching her every move. It electrified her in delicious shivers like most of her daydreams. Jade's hair was pulled up in a hightail, a shiny black and gold mask covered her eyes and she wore a striped grey and black pantsuit that made her seem so dashing. She felt her heart quicken.

When the song called for a vocal pause, Jade got up and danced with Cat, mimicked her moves and danced side by side. At one point Jade grabbed her by the waist and they did a modernized quick step and the crowd went wild.

Reine was grinning the entire time. This was turning out better than she had guessed.

At the end of the song Jade twirled Cat out then pulled her into her arms in a tight clasp. They stared at each other, breathing hard with their chests pressed tightly against each other as the crowd rose from their seats, cheering, whistling and applauding. The two girls stood still even after the curtains were dropped. "G-great show," Cat finally said in a ragged voice. Jade nodded then slowly and reluctantly let her go. "Yea, it was something." But neither one made a move to leave. They stood awkwardly; suddenly shy of each other as if one had suddenly confessed to the other. Cat made the first move. She stood up on her toes and kissed Jade on a cheek longingly then with a great triumph, turned on her heels and walked away from Jade in slow sexy strides. Jade stood staring at her then quickly looked away realizing she was staring far too long. She rubbed the back of her neck and walked off in the opposite direction.

Tom slowly came out from behind a curtain and watched both of them walk off. He was expressionless but he clenched a fist tightly then turned to leave to follow Cat.

* * *

**_The song "Kiss from a Rose- by Seal". Heard the electric guitar cover. Amazing._**


	17. Chapter 17

After the show, Cat went directly to her dress-up area and pulled her curtain around so she could change. Tom said, "knock knock," and a giggling Cat asked him to wait as she unzipped her dress but he came in anyway. She whirled around in surprise, holding up her dress.

"Hey," he said breathlessly taking her in with his eyes. "You were great. I didn't recognize you at first but I can't mistake your voice." He moved in with a smile on his face to kiss her but she turned her head and he caught her cheek. He pulled away with a hurt look. "Is everything okay?"

"Yea, of course," she said trying to keep her face cheerful. "I just want to get out of my dress. Sooo, can you please wait outside? I'll hurry." She said with a slight giggle and gently began to push him towards the end of the curtain. But he kept his feet firmly on the ground and grabbed her hands pushing on him, making her dress fall to her feet. "I'll help you," he said with a grin she had never seen on him and her eyes widened when his mouth lunged for her neck.

.

The next band started up, making loud rumbling noises in the dressing area. Jade sat sprawled on a chair while Reine was re-doing her makeup. Jade was flipping a fedora from one hand to the other, clearly bored, still dressed in her pantsuit. "Not gonna change? Like it?" Reine asked her, looking at her through the mirror. Jade pursed her lips. "I rock it." Reine chuckled. "Ya know I've been meaning to talk to you about something…" Reine said while applying mascara. "Hm?" Jade said mindlessly, looking up at the moving lights.

.

Tori was walking to her dressing area when she heard bustling about and small shrieks. Tori ran and ripped the curtain apart. Her jaw fell when she found Tom and Cat wrestling. Her dress was on the ground and her bra had been torn off. Tom was holding her limbs down. " I've been more than patient with you! You just won't quit will you!?"

Tori rushed in and jumped onto his back, pounding on his head. "Let her go!" Cat fell to the ground, covering herself all the while trying to escape through their legs as the two were stumbling over her.

"Get off of me!" Tom yelled, hands grabbing at Tori's hair. Tori screamed loud still pummeling him. Suddenly teachers tore into the area, demanding what was happening. They pulled Tori off of Tom and they covered Cat with a towel. "What's going on here?!"

.

Reine looked up at seeing people run by. "Riot?" Jade slowly raised her eyes and saw Andre run by. She had a bad feeling and quickly shot up from her chair to follow. Reine watched her leave but made no move to follow.

.

Jade pushed past people and broke from the crowd as teachers were ushering students to go back to what they were doing and that they had the situation under control. Tori was held back by a teacher, Cat was being hugged protectively by Beck covered by Andre and Tom was standing in the middle. "I was just talking to my girlfriend then she comes in grabbing my hair! I don't know what the hell brought it on! She's crazy!"

Tori yelled obscenities at him. "He's lying!" Then she turned her head and saw Jade. "Jade! Jade! He tried to force himself on Cat!" Jade's eyes widened and she snapped to look at Tom. Then at Cat who's mascara was running down her face. Tom looked at Jade and smirked. "She's mine Jade. I can do the hell I want!" Jade ran her tongue over her teeth and cocked her head to the side. "What's wrong Tommy boy? Manhood questioned? Think forcing a girl will make you a big man?"

"She's mine," he seethed. Jade scratched the back of her neck. "That's not the way it works you jerk."

"What?" Tom's eyes widened. "I haven't lost yet!"

"Okay you both need to calm down now. Jade go back to the room." The teacher tried to pull Jade away.

"Wait! You're just gonna let Tom go!?" Tori shouted over the commotion as it started again. "Tori you need to calm down or you will be suspended," she was threatened by one other teacher.

Tom was now grinning as Jade and Tori were being pulled away. Jade caught sight of him and she saw Cat's eyes widen in fear. Jade then ducked and dodged the teacher. "Hey asshole!" she shouted. As he turned around her fist made contact with his jaw, bowling him over into the box of clothes. Tori laughed in surprise and shock, not believing Jade would actually knock him out. Quickly Jade ran to stand over him. He retaliated and they wrestled on the ground. Teachers and security tried to pull them apart.

"She's not your girlfriend anymore!" Jade yelled through a bloody lip as she was hauled and picked up by a strong man but she still kicked. "Lay a hand on her again and see what happens! I'll guarantee your fucking death!" she screamed at him over their shoulders. Tori and friends have never seen Jade so angry in their life. They hurried Cat away, Tori grabbed her clothes and they ran to get out of there not bothering to stay for the rest of the show.

.

Tori didn't feel like going to school the next day so she skipped out. She spent the day lounging at home, she kept trying to ask Cat to hang out but she wasn't answering her phone. Then her phone rang, she answered it in mid ring. "Cat!?"

"I knew it. She's not answering you either."

"Oh my god, Jade, what happened? Are you okay?"

"Yea just in school suspension."

"In school suspension?"

"Yeaaa, I gotta spend every free time in the teachers' lounge so they can keep an eye on me." Jade blew her breath out. "Nothing from Cat? We should just head over. I'll pick you up in fifteen minutes." Then she hung up. Tori stared at the phone then quickly dashed upstairs to get dressed. She was outside waiting when Jade pulled into the driveway, she grabbed the door handle and flopped into the seat and Jade wheeled the car away.

"Don't really blame her for not answering the phone…" Tori said softly still attempting to text Cat. Jade only looked straight ahead. "Texting her were on our way." Suddenly her phone rang and she answered it mid ring. "Cat! Hey!" she quickly put it on speaker phone so Jade could hear.

"You guys shouldn't worry about me. I'm fine… just … I don't know…" Cat said softly, she sounded like she had cried herself to sleep and woke up crying. Tori shook her head. "We're coming hun, do you need anything?"

"No, seriously you guys I'll be okay…"

"Look Cat, we're coming over now so you better be downstairs to unlock that door or I'm breaking in you hear me!" Jade said loudly for her to hear. Tori looked over at Jade with pure admiration. She always pulled through for her friends. But Tori knew Cat wasn't just a friend to Jade and she could see the angry tears beading on the rim of her lower lashes. After Cat hung up Tori wanted to console Jade but all she did was hiss. "I'll fucking kill him."

.

Once they got to the house, Cat had obediently unlocked the door as she was demanded and they let themselves in. Jade went directly to Cat's bedroom leading Tori who had never been to her house. Cat was standing at the window and turned around to face them when they burst into her room. She smiled brightly at them. "Heeeey, you came." The two girls were taken aback by her attitude. It was night and day just a few minutes ago. Jade went to her and grabbing her hand led her away from the window, shutting the thin drapes. Tori looked around the room to look for the pills she was depending on but couldn't see them anywhere, so she started to look through the drawers and cabinets in the washroom.

"Uh, Vega, the hell you doing going through people's things?" Jade called from the bedroom. Cat only smiled at Jade softly, playing with her own hair as she usually did. "It's okay, she's on a mission. So you guys cut school?" sitting them both on the pink bed.

"Yea, sure, no biggie," Jade said tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "Don't say it's for me, you'll get in trouble." Cat said, eyes on Tori, getting nervous. Tori found the capsule bottle and held it firmly in her hands triumphantly. "Yea, Jade was suspended," she declared as she opened the lid, Cat stood up quickly but stopped shocked and swung over to stare at Jade, eyes wide. "What?!" she immediately sat back down. "Because of my boyfriend?"

"He's not your boyfriend anymore!" Jade and Tori shouted. Cat flinched. Tori exited the bathroom and leaned against the door frame, blocking Cat's nervous view as she heard the toilet had been flushed. She grabbed her head and rocked back and forth. "No, no, no, no, no, no… he didn't mean any of it…"

"What's wrong with her?" Jade grabbed Cat's elbows and gave Tori a glance. "Cat," Jade raised Cat's head to see her face but Cat wouldn't look at her, eyes on Tori. "I needed those!" she yelled and tried to get up but Jade held her fast. Tori stood up and took a step back. "Cat you don't need those drugs! You never did! Tom was keeping you drugged for his benefit!"

Jade now angered, "He was what?! You knew about this!? Why didn't you say anything!?"

Tori threw up her arms, "She wouldn't let me! She wouldn't listen! I tried to stop her and I even tried to talk to him about it, but like you said, he is scum."

"No he isn't! He wouldn't hurt me! He loves me!" Cat shouted over them. Jade and Tori gaped at the red head. _Was she serious? _Jade took a hold of Cat's face, shaking her. "No Cat, he tried to hurt you. It scares me to death as to what would have happened if Tori hadn't stopped him. He tried to hurt you! He's not your boyfriend anymore! He did this to me! If he was innocent he wouldn't have fought. He hit me Cat!" Cat now eyed the red cut on Jade's bottom lip. She only shook her head fiercely, grabbing at Jade's hands on her face, prying them off.

"You hit him first! You provoked him! I saw it! Why do you guys hate him so much!?"

Tori quickly went over to Cat, trying to calm her down as she saw Jade pull away with a start.

"Cat, it's over hunny, you don't deserve a guy like that. Its okay, you just need time. It's okay, we're here for you. Want me to get you sum cake?" Tori said softly, soothing her by rubbing her back.

"You never liked Tom…" Cat whispered, she was saying it to Jade, whom had stood up from the bed. Tori slowly looked up at Jade, shaking her head, mouthing that she didn't mean anything she was about to say. Jade's cool eyes flicked from Tori to Cat, holding her breath.

"You never wanted me to be happy…" Cat now looked up, the rim of her eyes turning pink from the tears welling up. "You always pushed me away." She now stood up and Tori hastily followed suit. "You never wanted to even be near me at the beginning of this semester. You wanted to stay away and all of the sudden you care about me?"

Tori had to butt in, "Now Cat, that's not true…"

Cat slowly approached Jade who was starting to slowly back away, she had never seen that look on Cat before. "You're the one who played with my feelings, knowing how I felt about you. And yet you pushed me away. I found Tom and he's the best thing that's ever happened to me and now you want to make up lies to get me away from him? Just who do you think you are!?"

Jade looked at Tori with questions in her eyes. Tori quickly took a hold of Cat's arms as the petite girl made a lunge forward. "I love him and he loves me! Stop hurting us!" she cried, now tears rolling down her face, eyes red in anger. "Stay away from us! I will save him! I will save him!" she screamed. Tori pulled Cat into a hug as she burst into loud crying heap. Jade stood still, not knowing what to do._ What was she supposed to do? _All she knew was that the person she loved now hated her and for what? A sore loser. Her eyes brimmed with hot angry tears again and her hands fidgeted not knowing what to do or how to handle this.

Tori raised her head, looking over at Jade who stood perfectly still, staring straight ahead. "Jade… she didn't mean any of it. It's these pills she's on, they make her go livid… please don't act on this."

Jade finally swallowed the lump in her throat. "This is bullshit… Fine! Let him abuse you're stupid ass! I don't care anymore!" With that Jade stormed out of the room, ran down the stairs and out of the house, slamming the front door, stomped to her car and angrily wheeled it out of the driveway, making the tires squeal as she peeled out.

Cat shook against Tori, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry…" she couldn't stop crying. Tori held her fast, rubbing her back and caressing her head. "It's gonna be okay hun, It'll be fine. You need to relax. Just try to calm down. Jade is only angry for the moment." She looked out the window as rain started to pelt the window. The weather sure knew how to read the mood.

.

Reine was at home in her living room with the place lit in candles as she gazed out the window, holding the cordless phone to her ear. She had noticed that the girls hadn't shown up since last night's incident. She had been playing nurse all afternoon and she was excused after 4th period, she had decided to come home to relax and had spent the last few hours trying to call Jade. Now she stood talking to a boy who was in Beck's class about the rumors he had heard and that she should pass on. Reine chewed her bottom lip listening, "That son of a bitch…" she hissed. She put a pin to her lips as she started to put her hair up. "Well he got his medicine last night… Yea no I doubt it would've gone that far… right… we'll see I guess… no I think it'll be fine… well that's a relief… you could be right …" just then she noticed a familiar car pull up to her driveway and out came Jade without an umbrella, approaching her door.

"Hey listen I gotta go… yea suddenly… okay goodnight." She hung up and went to the door before Jade had a chance to ring the bell. Jade stood with water dripping all over her hair and face.

Reine had gotten her a change of clothes and was towel drying Jade's head who still wasn't saying anything. "You want sum coffee?" Reine asked, trying to get the girl to talk. Jade was staring off into the distance past the window. Reine knew that look, Jade was easy to read. She guessed Cat hadn't retaliated very nice. She wrapped her arms around the disheveled girl and pulled her down onto the couch, making her rest her head on her shoulder. Jade didn't fight it or complain; instead she grabbed Reine's arms and pinned her to the couch. She reached down and kissed her fiercely. Reine let her, if this is what she needed, then she would help.

.


	18. Chapter 18

Tori waited until Cat fell asleep, lying on her shoulder cuddling . She waited until the parents got home and softly sneaked out leaving a note, telling her to call her when she woke up. She wanted to stay but her own parents were calling for her to come home. Reluctantly she got in the car with Trina who had at least kept the decency to not ask so many personal questions. It was a first but Tori was taking it.

.

Lips bruised the other in urgency, pants were heard, lip sucking and moans. Jade had pushed Reine deep into the couch, pushed her thighs in between hers, hands running up under her shirt, gripping her supple flesh. Reine arched her neck, gasping and moaning as Jade bit into it, grazing her teeth across the soft flesh, attempting to break it. She found her lips again and savored her tongue thoroughly, entangling her fingers in her hair as Reine grasped her waist, sliding her hands up Jade's porcelain skin.

All of the sudden Reine sat up, grabbing Jade's shoulders and pushed her back, trying to breathe. Jade hissed in contempt and pushed against her again, eyes on her red mouth. Reine fell back on the couch again, Jade gripping her thighs, hot mouth clamped on her neck. "You need… to stop..." Reine said in between gasps. Jade began to pant in her want and now was grabbing at Reine's leggings, trying to pull them down. They had never gone this far before and she wasn't letting her. Reine forcibly pushed her off. "Jade, you're just as bad as Tom!" Jade threw herself away from Reine to land on the other end of the couch, breathing out hard. "I-I'm sorry!" she grabbed her head and quickly stood up. "I need to leave."

Reine regretted saying those words as soon as they came out, she immediately grabbed her wrist. "Just talk to me. Relax. Tell me what happened? You went to see Cat right? How is she?" At that Jade froze. "She hates me."

Reine sighed out loud and stood up to stand behind her friend. "I'm sure she didn't mean it. She's going through a lot. She denied everything right?"

Jade slowly turned to face her. "You knew this would happen didn't you." Reine didn't like the accusing tone. "No," she said firmly. "I'm on your side."

Jade shook her head, apologizing. "She told me to stay away."

"So what're you going to do?"

Jade bit her lip and put her hands on her hips, turning to face Reine. "Stay away."

.

The rest of the week Tori tried her best to keep Cat away from Tom. Beck and Andre were doing their best to keep Tom at bay, basically escorting Cat everywhere she went. Robbie and Rex did their best to keep her cheered up with their goofy antics. They all made sure she was never alone, Tori even escorted her to the washroom. "This is ridiculous," Cat said from inside the stall. She wasn't using it and pressed her back against the stall's wall, arms encircling her waist. "You guys don't have to do this."

Tori finished applying lip gloss and fluffed her hair. "You know we can't let Tom near you."

"But I need to talk to him," Cat whined.

"Not until you realize that you two are no longer a couple! Cat! We are only trying to protect you," she put the lip gloss back in her bag and was quiet a few seconds, hands on the sink. "Have you… have you talked to Jade at all?"

Tori then heard Cat slide down the door onto the floor, seeing her wavy red hair at the bottom. "No…"

"You know you were pretty mean… do you really hate her?" Tori asked softly, approaching the door Cat hid behind. She heard a slight sob and sniff. "I can't hate her. She tried to protect me and I acted so mean to her… she got hurt because of me."

"That's just Jade," Tori pressed her back against the same door, crossing her arms. "The busted lip didn't bother her, it was your comments. Look, I'm sure it's blown off. Jade always recovers, you know that. Should we go see her? Wah!" she gave a yelp or surprise as Cat opened the stall door, making Tori loose her footing. Cat caught her. She had a solemn face on; it was hard to be faking cheerful when she had nothing to fall back on. Tori almost regretted getting rid of her meds the way she did, Cat had gone in a withdrawal the last few days which threatened her parents to take her to the rehabilitation centre, not even sure how she had gotten in such a state. Tori had even feared that the redhead would do something crazy. But Cat was doing better now, she was seeing things clearer. She was beginning to understand what she had narrowly missed. Tom had tried to hurt her.

.

Beck went into the teacher's lounge with permission to see Jade. She did a double take from doing her homework when she saw him come in. She looked around at the teachers around her who were conversing with themselves. "What did you sleep with a teacher to come in here?"

Beck suppressed laughter but sat across from her. "Come to see me in prison?" she scoffed, getting back to her homework. He smiled regardless, "I just wanted to tell you that it was really cool what you did."

Jade nodded, still writing. "Suuure, tell that to the prison guards."

"Beck, you shouldn't be encouraging such behavior. Jade needs to show restraint in such occasions." A teacher had snubbed her nose in. Beck sat up straight. "Oh yea? And just what did any of you do while this was happening? Cat and Jade could've been hurt."

"That is up to the school board to decide the-"

"No!" Beck interrupted, now getting upset. "You all did nothing! Nothing at all. You just stood there while these girls were being targeted for abuse and you all just thought that you would all deal with the consequences after?"

"We're going to ask you to leave," said a male teacher getting up after hearing the uproar.

Beck looked over at Jade who had stopped writing and now staring at her paper. "Just go," she said softly after a few seconds. Beck pursed his lips, wondering why she wasn't saying anything else. But they had her on a noose and were just about to kick the bucket underneath her feet if this continued. Beck stood up hastily, took one more glance at Jade before leaving. "I'm sorry this happened to you…"

Jade bit her lower lip and cursed under her breath, throwing down her pen, leaning back on her chair.

.

Beck rushed past Tori and Cat, clearly in a bad mood. Tori grabbed his arm, "Beck what's wrong?"

His glaring eyes drew up and he quickly adjusted his face to calm down when he saw their worried faces. "It's nothing, just hate seeing Jade locked up for defending someone." Tori nodded, "Yea, same. Not fair. Cat's wants to talk to her. Are we allowed in there?"

"Sorry girls, I kinda started a disturbance in there," he said the word with quotation fingers. "This is such bullshit. I mean they didn't do shit and they expect us to stay calm," he said loudly directed at the hallway leading to the teachers' lounge. "If I ever see Tom again I will seriously knock him out. I tried to be civil and what he did to Cat was damn disgusting and I stayed away from him as you requested Cat but this is seriously taxing me."

Tori rubbed his shoulder, "Beck, it's okay."

"No, it's not!" he exploded. He immediately tried to relax, running his hands through his hair. "I'm sorry, but I just see it as if Cat or Jade was my girlfriend and if a guy came up to either of them to hurt them, I would go as far as to kill him."

Tori eyebrows furrowed in worry. She knew that was exactly what was going on in Jade's mind when she had thrown the first punch. Cat's life had been in danger.

"I don't want to see Tom anymore…" Tori and Beck turned and looked at Cat. They sighed in relief and hugged her together. "We'll figure something out," Beck said kissing Cat's forehead.

Just then Andre came around the corner waving a flyer but his smile faded when he noticed they all had serious faces on, even Cat. "So no go on Jade?" They all shook their heads slowly. "Man," he pressed his lips in disapproval. Tori looked at his hands. "What you got there?"

"Oh, just a dance that's going on at Regis hall, open invite, anyone is welcome to go. Just thought that since things were so grim that we could all go chill out and relax for once," Andre said but when none made a sound he started to crumble the paper. "Yea was a bad idea, sorry…"

"We should go," came Cat's voice. Beck looked at her and raised his eyebrows. "You sure?"

"Yea. I mean, we need to have fun, we're still kids right? We need to cheer ourselves up. It's … been awhile," she said, smiling on her own. Tori began to smile too, "Hey, doesn't sound bad. Why not?"

Beck nodded, "Well alright. I'll ask Reine to come too then. I'm sure it's cool." After they all agreed to show up together, they went their separate ways. Tori still linked arms with Cat and they went to class together.

.

Beck called Reine later to invite her and she agreed it was good to get people's minds off the current situation. "Hey, can you see if Jade will go? She kinda doesn't talk to us anymore. I'm sure she's told you why… see if you can swing her by." Reine chuckled at Beck's boyish shyness. "You bet cutie."

It wasn't hard really; she had called Jade and told her to pick her up in an hour. Jade drove up, not even the least bit bothered that she had been ordered to show up. Reine got in, all glamoured up making Jade ask, "Soooo, where we going?"

"Just drive," Reine said with a smirk. Jade rolled her eyes and started the car up and wheeled it out of the driveway. They drove a few blocks down and stopped at the first red light. Then a car drove up beside them and having their windows down they hollered at the two girls. Jade glared at them to find that it was Andre and Beck. "Sup ladies! Where you fine girls heading off to?"

Reine grinned and leaned over to talk to them, "Nowhere in particular."

Andre nodded and looked over at Tori and Cat who were in the back seat. "Well alright, how about you follow us then?"

"Sounds good handsome!" Reine called out and nudged at Jade. Jade rolled her eyes and swore under her breath that'd she regret this.

.

Once they parked their cars in the crowded parkade they all entered the packed club, pushing past the people who stood by the door, drinking and laughing. Reine grabbed Jade's hand as to not lose her and Tori grabbed Cat and Beck's hand. Andre was already up ahead high fiving and clapping guys backs that he knew. They all made room for the four girls to sit with them.

"Daaaaamn boy, I had no idea you knew some fine ladies!" said one outloud, eyeing Tori and Jade. Jade raised her eyebrows in annoyance but flattered while Cat giggled as a guy gave her a drink. Jade almost got up to tear the drink out of her hand but sat back down remembering Cat did her own thing. Tori saw Jade and turned to look at Cat who suddenly had a drink in her hand. "Nooooo kitty cat, only take what the bartender gives you." She took the drink and handed it back to one of the guys, shaking her head and motioning with her hands to cut it out.

Reine was chatting with a guy who was asking her to dance but she wrapped her arm around Jade's neck and pulled her off the barstool and cooly walked past the guys to the middle of the dance floor and began to dance with Jade. It took Jade a few seconds to get into the song and Cat wistfully watched the two. Tori accepted a dance from Beck and Robbie tried to cheer up Cat with his goofy moves. He succeeded and danced with him.

.

Tom had been invited out with his buddies to the same club but both parties where unaware of each other. They had a V.I.P in the room next to the DJ's. They had dancers with them and all were joking and having fun. One dancer teasingly pulled Tom to the pole that was attached to the roof and handcuffed him to it and danced around him. Tom wasn't really into it, being tied up made him feel uncomfortable but she was doing such a good job dancing he couldn't say no.

After an hour they all stopped to rest. The girls went to the rest room and the guys went for smoke breaks telling him they'd be back for more fun after they were done, leaving Tom chained to the pole. He protested and tried to pull the handcuffs off. "Hey I gotta pee!" he yelled after them.

.

Cat was dancing and laughing so much she needed to go to the washroom and excused herself from Robbie, politely trying to get past dancing people. Cat veered off to the side and made it to a quieter side of the club and looked for signs for the restrooms. She saw a door and pushing it open she entered into a hallway where people were making out in the corner. She shied away from them quickly and entered a room to the side. She stumbled down the stairs in surprise of the sudden drop. Luckily they were only four steps and she caught herself with her hands.

"Cat?" came a voice from the center of the dim lit room. Cat raised her head slowly and saw Tom standing there. "Tom?"

.

"Hey where's Cat?" Tori asked Robbie when she saw him alone at the bar. "Ah, she said she had to go to the washroom."

"You let her go by herself!?" Tori shouted over the music. Robbie was confused, "Was I supposed to go with her?"

"Oh my god! We have to find her!"

.


	19. Chapter 19

Cat picked herself up slowly when she noticed Tom was handcuffed by both hands to a pole. He tried to get free to go to her but it prevented him. He raised his hands to show her he wasn't able to help her. She stood up and took a few steps back. Tom lurched forward, again forgetting his dilemma.

"Wait, Cat, please!" She stopped, furrowing her eyes and looking behind her to see if she could get away fast but stopped and turned to look at him. He didn't look like he could do anything in his state.

"Why are you … handcuffed? Did a cop find out?" Cat asked staring at them.

Tom gave a sheepish smile and rattled the chains. "My friends' idea of fun I guess…not sure where they went…"

"They leave a key?" she didn't dare get closer but she looked around the room with her eyes. Tom wanted to scratch an itch on his shoulder and was using his ear to do so. Cat saw him and thought he looked silly. She walked over to him. "Here," she gently scratched his shoulder and his gaze fell on her softly. "Thanks."

But she didn't stop and was instead began rubbing his shoulder gently, staring at the fabric. He wasn't a threat anymore. She wanted to ask him if he was actually meaning to hurt her that night. It was out of his character to do something so irrational. She was torn. But something had to be done.

"Tom… about…"

"I'm sorry Cat."

She looked up at him in surprise then quickly looked away. He turned his head to stare at the pole. "I'm sorry I acted jealous. I'm sorry I messed up. That night…" he took a deep breath. "I didn't mean my actions. I didn't mean those words. Looking at it now, I realize what a mess I've made. It's not your fault people want you too. I just hoped I had won. I guess when I went to kiss you and you pulled away I snapped. I've… been trying to be so patient with it all, I just …"

Cat looked back at him. She remembered the hurt look on his face when she pulled away from his kiss.

"I just … wanted you to like me more. But obviously I made it worse," he gave a heavy sigh, shook his head and rested his forehead on the pole. "I'm so very sorry Cat. I am so sorry…" Cat was quiet the whole time he was apologizing. She should be the one apologizing, she sent him through a loop with no solid ground to land on. She covered her mouth to suppress a sob. Tom raised his head, looking at her.

"I wouldn't have hurt you Cat, you know that. I panicked and I grabbed your wrists but hurting you was the farthest thing from my mind. I just wanted to talk to you and have you talk to me. Tell me things. I know I forced drugs on you but I was only meaning for it to help you. I messed that up too…" he struck the pole with his forehead, clearly hating himself. Cat grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away from it. She caressed his cheek lovingly and pressed her forehead to his, silent tears rolling down her cheeks.

Tom smiled gently. "I love you so much Cat…" Cat nodded quietly. "That's why you should go to her."

Cat raised her head up abruptly at his words. _What? _She then lowered her eyes when she realized who he was referring to. He smiled again. "I know you love her and me but clearly she is at the top of your heart. You're lucky you know."

_More like cursed. _"Two people genuinely care about you. I'm willing to let you go for you to have the chance to be happy with her. So you better be happy, or else all this was for nothing." He shook his head and chuckled. "She threw a pretty good punch. Almost broke my nose, was pretty intense. I actually thought she would kill me and I got scared. I put up my elbows to block her but I ended up hitting her jaw by accident… I didn't mean to. I bet Beck wants to kill me now…" he bit his lip in worry. "She's been fighting for you for a long time now; I'm sure you're aware."

Cat pressed her forehead to his shoulder, wetting his shirt. "Cat don't cry, come on now. It's not your fault. It's mine. I should've let you go a long time ago when I found out. I just couldn't take losing to a girl and when I found out you felt the same way about her, I knew I had lost a long time ago."

Cat shook her head against his shoulder, sobbing. "I said I'd save you… I knew you wouldn't have hurt me. I kept telling them that …"

He gave her a sympathetic smile. "It's okay. I didn't help with my impression either. I'll take whatever beating they seem just."

"No!" Cat said raising her voice. She began wiping her face carefully, looking around behind her. Tom looked where she was looking. "She's here right? I don't think you should waste time; you better snatch her up before someone else does. You're allowed to be greedy you know."

Cat's eyebrows furrowed. _He meant Reine. _She bit her lip, thinking.

"No!" he chuckled and pushed her with his shoulder, making her stumble back. "Just go. Go get her!"

Cat nodded slowly as she backed up away from him. "Bye Tom, thank you and I'm so sorry for everything," she said softly. She bumped into his friends coming back in. "Heeeeeey, Cat," one said with a curious tone. Wondering why Cat was alone with Tom after everything that's happened.

"Hi!" she replied cheerfully and ran up the stairs out the doors.

One of his buddies came with the key, still laughing at him and unlocked his wrists. "Came to give you an apology blowjob?" he asked grinning. Tom shook his head, rubbing his wrists. "No, we broke up."

"What?" another guy shouted who had just sat down with a beer. "You just let her go? Dude! You didn't do anything wrong! Tell that bitch to get back here!"

Tom turned on him angrily. "Don't call her that! She didn't do anything! Just let it go."

The guy with dreads told the guy on the couch to go cool off his head when he started shouting obscenities and to take his shades off. He stormed off out through the doors. He saw Cat in the distance, moving through the crowd, he smirked and chased after her.

.

Jade had her eyes kept on Reine the entire time. They danced close and Reine was basically rubbing herself on her. Jade couldn't stop staring as she moved with her. Some nights Reine would let her kiss her and some nights Jade wanted to go further but Reine always stopped it. _Was it because they weren't a couple?_ Jade couldn't help but wonder how she'd look undressed but for some reason Cat would pry herself into her daydreams. Also there was the fact that Reine knew how she felt about another girl. But she must clearly realize that the other girl didn't want Jade the same way. If Reine would have her Jade would take her. They had hit it off the second they had met.

Reine saw the same look in her eyes and draped her arms over Jade's shoulders. Jade smirked at her but at the same time tried to keep her distance. If Reine knew how she felt then she didn't care about it? Jade only grinned and wrapped her hands on the girl's waist. Reine had always let her take her frustrations on her, so if she needed a fix Jade would gladly oblige.

But Reine was a tease. She would go in for a kiss but only pull back a few millimeters, barely breathing in each other's scent, eyes fixed on her lips. Jade could feel the way Reine gripped her back and how her hips pushed into hers. If Jade were a guy she'd be in noticeable trouble. Reine then let go of Jade's back and turned around and pressed her backside into Jade. Jade responded by gripping her waist tightly and Reine wrapped her arms around hers just as tightly, her rear pushing into Jade's pelvis.

The music was thumping and people were dancing wildly, the lights were flashing in every which direction and all Jade could see or feel was Reine pressing up against her. She didn't know what to do or how to handle this. Was Reine being serious? _Did she actually want Jade to take action?_ She was having an incredible hard time to control herself. "Reine…" she whimpered in the girl's ear, making a grin cross Reine's face. She then raised her arms up and her hands gripped the back of Jade's head, pulling it down to have her lips press against Reine's neck.

.

Cat had lost track of her crew and was looking in every which direction, hopping up once in a while to get her bearings, seeing if she recognized anything. With the crowded place she decided it was best to head to the front entrance and maybe catch someone she knew on the way. She turned to her left when all of the sudden a hand grabbed her wrist, she spun around hoping it was one of her friends but was puzzled to see one of Tom's friends instead. He had shades on and he smiled at her. "Wanna dance?" he yelled over the music. Cat shook her head, "Sorry but I need to find my friends!"

He nodded and came close to her with her face in his chest, "I'll help you!" he shouted back at her, leaning in over so she could hear him better. She shrugged and nodded and let him take her by the hand.

.

Tori wasn't having as much fun, she had told Andre, Beck and Robbie that Cat hadn't returned yet and she was on her own. They split up to search for her, wriggling free from anyone who tried to make them dance with them. The boys discovered that so many girls resembled Cat in so many ways and found it very difficult when they realized the mistake after they had grabbed the girl by accident. "Sorry! Thought you were someone else!"

They shouted Cat's name over the roar over and over. Hearing Cat's name undid whatever spell Reine had cast on Jade and cast a different one. Her eyes snapped open and she saw Andre at a distance yelling Cat's name. Jade let go of Reine and she stood erect, looking around wildly. _Cat was missing?_ A buddy of Reine came rushing over to Reine and talked to her briefly before departing. Reine grabbed Jade's arm, "I just got word. This is serious," Jade looked down at her and Reine nodded. "Tom's been spotted here."

Jade's blood ran cold and her eyes widened, without hesitation she pushed past people, shoving those unwilling to move. _Cat wouldn't, would she!? _Her heart was racing and she felt a sudden dread. She had to find her!

.

"What was your name again?" Cat asked Tom's friend. He sipped his drink and nodded, "I'm Jake. We met several times now." Cat nodded slowly. She kept her eye on the dance floor, from this height she could see over people's heads. Jake had insisted they hit the bar and had picked her up, setting her on the bar counter, telling her that she could see better from there. She concluded he was right. She kept her eyes alert, watching anyone that was moving instead of just dancing. It wasn't as crowded at the bar and she was thankful for that. "You know you're pretty cute." That comment made her snap her eyes at him. "Uhm… thanks," she said with a polite smile and returned to look at the crowd.

"It's a shame Tom dumped you," he said again sipping his drink. Cat pursed her lips, not looking at him.

"Wonder what you did for him to get rid of you." Cat was about to respond when she saw Tori and Jade in the middle of the crowd, dashing through it, looking left and right. They were looking for her. She smiled and waved at them, shouting their names.

"Found them?"

"Yeah! Thanks for keeping me company! I gotta go!" Cat hopped off the counter and he caught her by the arm. She turned and didn't like the look on his face and tried to wrench herself free.

.

Tori grabbed her hair in dismay, "Damnit I shouldn't have let her out of my sight!" Jade turned around and thought she heard something but in that instant the song made the crowd cheer and whistle, raising their arms in the air. Jade had caught a glimpse of a redhead at the bar counter, the girl had waved and suddenly disappeared. She tried to see over the heads and push past people but the crowd was relentless. Jade stood a few seconds, wondering what to do when all of the sudden above the noise she heard Cat's voice and her shriek of distress. In that moment Jade's heart beat rose and her adrenaline pushed her viciously through the crowd, shoving and thrusting herself through them as if they were jungle plants.

.

Cat couldn't hear what Jake was yelling at her, but his grip was strong and he was hauling her away from the bar counter and when she tried to kick him; he stopped and held her fast against his chest. Cat screamed loud and long, before she had realized it she was screaming Jade's name. She looked up and saw in Jake's shades the reflection of the club and of a girl who seemed like she was flying, rushing forward. Cat instinctively ducked and a stool smashed into Jake's face and chest in full swing, throwing him back to crack his back against the counter while the rest of the splintered stool went crashing against the liquor wall, making the various bottles explode in different deliquescent colors.

Cat stumbled back in shock and horror as blood ran from Jake's face as he tried to recover. Jade wasted no time and grabbed Cat by the hands and pulled her to her feet. "We have to get out of here!" she yelled. People were shouting from the sudden commotion and were yelling, trying to back away from Jade who tried to pull a limp Cat who had fainted. Jade rushed over and bending down hoisted Cat into her arms and turning around she disappeared into the crowd who some were unbeknownst of what was happening around them.

Beck found Jade and quickly took Cat from her and they all rushed to the exit where Tori was frantically trying to get a hold of Beck. She shouted in surprise at seeing an unconscious Cat in his arms. "Oh my god what happened!?"

Andre had been directed to grab the car and Robbie was holding the doors open for Cat and Beck. They all rushed in, Beck's car only seated five but with Cat sprawled on the back seat, no one else could squeeze in.

"Reine! I need you to take Robbie and Tori home!" Jade hollered, tossing Reine the car keys as she got into the backseat with Cat. Beck jumped into the passenger seat after slamming the doors. Reine and the rest quickly dashed to her car and piled in. They wheeled off just as the bouncers and security guards made it to the parking lot.

"We have two cars on the run!" one yelled into the radio while the others tried to calm the wired up people who were cascading out, cheering and hooting.

.


	20. Chapter 20

Cat woke up halfway to Jade's house. She awoke screaming and Jade had quickly quieted her down by hugging her and telling her it was okay. Cat blinked many times and hugged Jade ever so tightly. "Jade! Oh my god!" she broke down crying, clinging to her. "It's okay," Jade said softly, caressing her hair. "You're safe now."

"You said that guy was one of Tom's friends?" Beck said turning in his seat. "Do they know where Cat lives?"

Jade swore under her breath. "You're right. Andre drive to my house, I'll take her there."

"Wonder if the cops were called," Andre said nervously as he switched lanes. Beck ran his hands through his hair. "I'll handle them. There's no way this is happening twice and nothing gets done about it. I'm so sick of this!" Beck thumped his fist on the dashboard. He quickly turned to look at Jade. "You okay?"

Jade nodded, hugging Cat tighter. "I feel better now that she's safe." Beck nodded and turned to face the road.

.

No one was home and wouldn't be for a few days, that's why Jade had suggested her house and unless Tom knew where she lived they'd be safe. She got out and Beck walked them to the door. "Maybe I should stay too, just to be safe."

Jade shook her head, "We'll be okay. Thanks Beck. I'll let you know if anything comes up." He was reluctant to leave, clearly stressed over them. Jade rubbed his arm. "I promise. We just need to give her space. She'll be fine." Beck nodded slowly then backed away slowly as he watched the two girls enter the house and the door closed in front of him.

.

Jade led Cat upstairs to her bedroom. She turned on the bath and let the water run, telling Cat to undress and get in. She had to wash and scrub the blood, alcohol and sweat off herself. Jade did her best to keep herself occupied as not to walk in on Cat. She pulled out new sheets, covering her torn mattress with brand new thick sheeting and pulled out clothes she might be able to fit in. She then went downstairs and grabbed water bottles and popcorn and if need be she grabbed a "Cat friendly" dvd in case she needed to relax.

When she went upstairs she found Cat was already out and was sitting on the bed in a towel, looking over the clothing Jade laid out for her. "Um, sorry, if everything is big on you. Tried to pull out stuff I had when I was a kid."

"Is that what you see me as?" Cat said softly, without looking at her. "A kid… who only seems to ask for trouble?"

Jade bit her lip and set down the items in her arms on the bedside table. "Cat… what happened wasn't your fault." Cat quickly got up, almost losing her towel which Jade caught quickly, holding it fast to her chest, hiding her curves. "Just get dressed and we'll relax okay?"

"Okay," Cat said disdainfully turning away as Jade exited the room. She gave her a few minutes until Cat said she was all set. Jade entered the room and saw Cat wearing her button up shirt that belonged to Beck and only that. She had braided her wet hair and was sitting on the edge of the bed, smiling shyly at her. Jade smiled at her and closed the door, "You're looking better."

"I feel lots better!" Cat chirped happily. Jade looked around the room. Cat was acting mighty different than few minutes ago. "Uh, well good. Good." She walked over to the tv and looked over the dvds. "Did you want to watch something… I … not so sure …"

Suddenly Cat hugged her from behind, wrapping her arms around her tightly. "Cat! That's pretty hard…"

Cat shook her head. "Thank you."

Jade slowly lowered her defenses, melting slowly. She turned around and let Cat hug her, caressing her back, resting her cheek on the redhead. They were like that a few minutes in silence. Cat raised her head and bumped her nose on Jade's chin, both laughed and smiled. Cat's smile faded as her gaze landed on Jade's lips, biting her lower lip. "Well! Should we get some sleep?" Jade moved around her and headed to the bed, uncovering the sheets but Cat still trailed after her and sat on the bed, quietly.

Jade's mind was running wild. _Cat wasn't being herself._ She wasn't about to take advantage of her while in this state. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying her hardest to control herself. Telling herself over and over that Cat just had a horrific week and she just needed consoling and time. But when Cat's gentle fingers slid up her arm softly it sent delicious shivers up her spine, making the hair on her arms stand on end. Still not turning around she heard the other girl get up slowly and walk calmly around to make Jade face her and sat down on the bed in front of her. Their eyes met and Cat let her fingers slide up her arms again. When they got to Jade's shoulders, she tugged her down gently as she began to lay back on the bed, slowly pulling Jade to lay on top of her as their lips very cautiously met each other's.

.

"I Just want to thank you for always being there for Jade…" Tori paused for a second, rubbing her temple. "I know … she's not the easiest to be around with…" she could hear Reine smile on the other side of the phone. "No, she's not. But I bet Cat thinks the sun shines when she's around that gloomy gus."

Tori bit her lip, choosing her next words carefully. "If Cat and Jade get together, which is what I've been hoping since they like each other so much, where… does that leave you?"

Quiet for a few seconds. "Leave me how?" came Reine husky question. Tori sat on her bed, still wearing her party clothes, luckily no one had seen her sneak in and she was talking as quietly as ever. She didn't know why the first person she decided to call was Reine. It had been automatic.

"I know… you and Jade had something going on… but I know you knew how they felt about each other almost just as much as I did. They're together right now… does it …hurt?" Tori asked tentatively. She heard Reine give a sigh and slap a hand to her thigh. "I see. No … Jade and I had no feelings towards each other that way and yes I knew because of how tormented she was. I'm glad their spending the night. That means they'll talk and sort things out."

"Where does that leave you?" Tori repeated. Reine shook her head and looked up at the ceiling.

"Nowhere," Reine gave a weak smile. "I'm just the friend." With that she clicked end call. It was late and luckily it was the weekend now but still she had things to do in the morning. Reine lay back on the bed with an arm over her eyes. _Was she just a friend? _Reine knew for sure Jade was going to grab Cat if not for romance then just to protect her. Reine sighed and rolled onto her side and eventually drifted into a slumber.

.

Jade didn't fight the little red head and she wasn't stopping her. Cat had her arms wrapped around her head and shoulders, making sure she was going nowhere, her lips full on Jade's. Jade returned the kiss softly at first but soon her emotions were rising and she coaxed the other girl's lips apart gently and felt her tongue. Cat then grasped her face, aroused by the kiss, making small mewling sounds. She started to open up Jade's button up shirt, pulling it open without breaking the kiss, revealing Jade's black bra and pale porcelain skin. Jade whimpered in the kiss and tried to pull away but Cat pulled her back down on her. Jade finally made an effort to pull away from Cat, panting. "Cat, we can't," she said softly.

Cat didn't move to reach to grab her again, just laid still on the bed, giving her bedroom eyes. Jade swallowed hard and pushed off the bed, buttoning up her own shirt. Then she saw Cat unbutton Becks' shirt she was wearing and shrugged it off, exposing her tan skin in the dim lighting.

"Cat, we seriously can't. I mean you just went through a breakup and a rough night. I won't do this…" Jade tried to protest all the while Cat was slowly undoing her braid and ruffling her hair. She extended a hand to her. "Jadey, come to bed."

"I … I-I think I'll go sleep in my parents room!" Jade blurted and quickly turned to leave but Cat caught her wrist fast. "Don't leave me," Cat whispered. "Don't leave me alone, please."

"Cat…"

"I don't want to be alone." Jade saw Cat's eyes starting to glisten with tears. "I love you Jade…" Jade swallowed a lump in her throat. How she had wished to hear those words from her for so long that now the pain seemed numb. _But this wasn't right._ They'd regret this moment Jade was sure. But it looked like Cat didn't care. This was tonight, tomorrow was tomorrow.

Cat managed to coax Jade into bed with her, whispering sweet words to her, unbuttoning her shirt again, unclasping her bra, making her lie beside her, kissed her neck and torso, whispering her name over and over. Jade felt tears sting her eyes as she returned the hot kisses. She would regret this, she had a horrible feeling she would regret this. Cat was her best friend. But tonight everything would change and neither of them had the power to stop it. Tomorrow they would see each other differently. Tomorrow they might hate each other. Jade now only wished she had never asked her to dance that night.

.

Monday morning the entire crew was present. Reine was even present for lunch except Cat and Jade. Tori aimlessly ate her burrito and Andre was squeezing loads of ketchup on his fries while Beck and Robbie stared at him. "Got enough there?" Beck asked rhetorically. Reine raised her eyebrows in amusement as she chewed her beef jerky calmly. "Boy likes his murdered tomatoes," she pointed out.

"It's cool you came to eat with us," Tori told her with a smile. Reine nodded, "Thanks for having me."

Robbie scooted closer to her with Rex in tow, "So, you seeing anyone? Wanna date?"

"1914," Reine replied without missing a beat. "Look it up." Robbie looked confused, "World War one?"

"So uh Reine!" Tori butted in. "Any word on Jade?" Reine shrugged, chewing on her jerky absent mindedly. "Anyone seen Cat?"

Robbie recovered from the confusion and looked up suddenly. "I saw her in study hall and Jade was in the counsellors office."

"Huh? Why didn't they come say hi or sit with us for lunch at least?" Andre asked. Tori and Reine still chewing their food glanced at each other. Andre then chuckled to himself. "Jade has become a real bad-ass lately. That's hot!"

"Hey that's my ex you're talking about," Beck said with a wounded tone. Andre looked at him then pointed at the fries. "I-I meant the fries, man. I wouldn't move in on your ex you know me."

.

Jade sat in the office as she heard the same speech given to her several times now. Her in-school suspension was about to end and she was anxious to get to talk to everyone at school again. More importantly she wanted to address Cat about what happened Friday night. Cat had been avoiding her come Monday morning, making sure she was not found in the usual spots. Jade had dismissed it to a point but now she was missing Cat. She fidgeted in the seat and she was promptly asked if she had anything to say. She replied positively, even forcing a smile.

At last she was dismissed and as soon as she closed the door to the office she hurried down the stairs.

"Jade!" Jade spun around to see Reine leaning against the handrail. "Finally out of jail?" Jade chuckled and nodded. "Damn finally." A few people crossed her path, congratulating her and commenting on her awesomeness. Reine nodded and chuckled. "Looks like you're quite popular these days."

Jade shrugged, walking up to her, "It'll get annoying. What're you up to?"

Reine shook her head and looked to the side. "Can't find her can you?" Jade chewed her bottom lip. "I'll see you later Reine." She turned to leave but Reine stepped down the stairs. "Is that all you're going to say? No good bye kiss or even a hug?"

Jade turned around slowly, "What?" Reine chuckled and shook her head. "Just bugging you. Go, go find her. You've been aching for her so, right?" Jade turned away without a second glance and walked off with her arms crossed.

.

Cat was in the library looking through the books. More like cruising through books, every book she picked up she flipped through it only to put it back and do the same to the entire shelf. She was annoying the other people she knew but she didn't care. She was trying to calm her palpitating heart. It wouldn't stop and she feared she was having a reaction to the withdrawal except for the reason that had caused it. Jade. When she saw Jade come through the front doors of the school, her heart had leaped into her throat and she had hid from her. It wasn't the same when she used to hide from Jade when she got her mad. No, this was different. So many emotions and her body had heated up and Cat had run, ashamed at remembering what she had made Jade do with her. She was hyperventilating just thinking about it and a student nearby asked if she was okay. Cat didn't hear him_. Jade must surely hate her now. _She slid to the floor to her knees, head down as she tried to regulate her breathing.

"Hey, I'll take you to the nurse!" the guy helped her stand and quickly but gently leaded her out of the library towards the nurse's office. Cat shook her head, "I … just need some… fresh air…" he complied and took her outside just as the bell rang. She told him she'd be fine now and that he shouldn't miss class. He then told her to hit the nurse's office if she still felt bad. She promised she would.

After fifteen minutes she then headed back inside and was looking at the mud on her heels when she suddenly looked up and saw Jade standing at the foot of the stairs staring up at her. Cat froze in her tracks like a deer in headlights. "Jade…"

Jade took a step up and Cat took one back. "I'm… I'm not going to hurt you Cat," Jade said puzzled. She took a step down, nodding to herself. _So this was how it was going to be. _

"We… need to talk," Jade began. "About what happened Friday-"

"Like what? Nothing happened," Cat interrupted without looking at her. "We're just friends right?" Jade looked away slowly. "Oh? Yea, sure friends, I guess. You said … you loved me, or was that just-"

Cat gave her a bittersweet smile. "I'll always love you as a friend, Jadey. Always."

.


	21. Chapter 21

"Cat, what is going on?" Jade took another step up the stairs and this time Cat didn't back up, just curling her hair on her finger, looking around, making sure no one was around.

"Nothing!" Cat tried to sound reassuring. "Nothing happened, we'll continue as if nothing happened."

"It doesn't work that way, Cat. We have to figure this out," Jade crossed her arms, staring up at her. Cat was now biting her lower lip, eyebrows furrowing as she usually did when she was mentally cornered.

"Jade, you're my best friend right?"

"You already asked me-"

"Right!?"

Jade pursed her lips, "Well, yea, but we can't just ignore-" Cat shook her head. "Then stay my best friend. Please don't see me differently. We can't be anything more."

"Fine… whatever…" Jade turned abruptly, took a step down and then quickly whirled around. "You know what, no. This has been going on for far too long. I've been mentally kicking myself for not saying anything earlier, but this is as far as it goes, baby girl. Don't you dare do this to me now."

"Jade, stop," Cat said backing away as Jade climbed the steps up to her with each heated word. Afraid of what she would say, deep down already knowing what it was.

"I like you," Jade declared, and said even louder, "I fucking like you! And yes in that goddamn way!"

"Stop it!" Cat cried, covering her ears. Jade didn't. She kept coming closer. "The thing is though, I liked you even before I could even acknowledge it and I would run away scared because of what it would do to us. I had every right to be scared because look at us now."

Cat shook her head roughly, not wanting to hear anything Jade was saying. It took ten minutes to calm Cat with a hug, caressing her hair as Cat trembled against her shoulder. "It's gonna be okay."

Cat eventually pulled away calmly from Jade. "Can I… ask you something?" Jade nodded. Cat furrowed her eyebrows again. "Am I …" she stopped and tried again, "Am I the reason… you broke up with Beck?"

Jade moved away from her, flopping her arms to her sides. "You saw me. I was miserable. I was making him miserable. How could I make him happy when I wasn't happy with myself? He wasn't my all anymore." Jade turned to look at Cat again. "All I could think of was you. You tormented my dreams and haunted my fantasies." Jade crossed her arms and looked up at the high ceiling. "I tried to put you in someone else's arms and look what happened. I blame no one but myself. I thought by having you with someone would make me move on. Made it worse." Jade sighed heavily. "I was insanely jealous. At first I thought I was jealous of your happiness but no, I was jealous of him. He got to touch you and kiss you whenever he pleased. My fantasies were his realities. I started to hate him and it made me paranoid, only because you were his girlfriend."

Cat shook her head, "I wasn't very much of a girlfriend to him…"

Jade went up to her and gripped her shoulders, "No, Cat, you were an amazing girlfriend up until he let you. You were kind, sweet and caring. You defended him and you put him first. He fought to keep you, that's how I know you were an amazing girlfriend."

Cat shook her head roughly, "No, I was horrible to him! I drove him insane!"

Jade chuckled and pressed her forehead to hers, "Yea, you did." Cat's shoulders slumped in defeat and made an annoyed sound in her throat. "And I am willing to go insane for you too." Cat looked up in shock at Jade's words. "What?"

"I know you'll take care of me the way you did for him," Jade kept on saying all the while Cat kept shaking her head, tears glittering her eyes. "Jade, no…" Cat started to back away.

"Cat, you're going to seriously make me beg?" Jade said in a sour tone. Cat now looked confused, "I, what?"

"Don't make me, Cat, don't make me, I swear to god, you better not," Jade said loudly, eyes starting to glare. Cat gulped hard, "What? What? What am I doing?" She looked at her hands and around herself.

Jade gave a frustrated sigh and landed on one knee in front of Cat, making the redhead gasp. "You're asking me to marry you?"

"What? No! Be my girlfriend!" Jade shouted making Cat flinch. Jade quickly readjusted her tone, almost getting up. "Cat, be my girlfriend."

Suddenly the hall echoed with steps and voices of teachers. Jade sprang to her feet and grabbing Cat's hand, ran up the steps to hide behind a tall potted plant against the wall, pushing Cat against it, hiding her with her body, hands on her elbows. Cat stared up at Jade admirably. Jade looked over her shoulder to see if the teachers were to approach them. Cat smiled to herself and pressed her cheek to Jade's chest. The other girl turned back to her and smiled back down at her.

.

Tori raised her hand and asked to be excused to go to the washroom. She was coming around the corner when suddenly what she saw made her stop in her tracks. Jade and Cat were half hidden in shadow by a tall potted plant in the hallway against the wall. What she saw made her smile for the both of them. Jade and Cat's lips were lightly pressed on each other, both leaning in, Jade holding Cat's elbows as Cat's hands were placed on Jade's upper arms, gently gripping her. Tori, incredibly happy for them, almost wanting to squeal, slowly started to back away from the scene and very quietly made it back to class, forgetting what she had got up to do. Andre gave her a confused look which read 'that fast?'

Tori saw the boys looking at her and she gave them a wide smile and two thumbs up. Realizing they had no idea what she was talking about, she just shrugged it off and kept on smiling. Somehow she felt accomplished.

.

Cat finally pulled away slowly, hiding her face from a soft blush. Jade ran her fingers through Cat's hair lovingly. "You haven't answered me…"

Cat was tongue tied and took a few tries to speak but all of the sudden her eyes widened. "Wait, shouldn't we date first?" Jade chuckled and put her hands on her hips. "Well let's see. Since we hit all three bases that night…"

Cat's hands flew to her face, unexpectantly recalling that night, "Oh my god…" she moaned. Jade smiled at her and lifted her chin up to look at her, "And agreeing to be my girlfriend…" Cat lowered her long eyelashes.

"I guess, yea sure," Jade shrugged. "We can go on a date this Friday."

"Jade, I'm so sorry… I killed the romance… See?! I'm no good!" Cat protested but failed with her tone as Jade had pressed her back against the wall, breathing into her ear. "No, Cat. You've ignited it."

.

Beck watched as Tori suddenly flew out of her seat, threw her bag onto her back and rushed out. "Still no Jade or Cat?" Andre asked Beck who shook his head slowly. "What is up with the girls lately?"

Tori bustled through the halls and coming up to the lockers she saw Cat and Jade talking at Jade's locker. Jade had made Cat laugh, giggling as she covered her mouth. Tori caught sight of Cat's face which was beaming and glowing. "You guys!" Tori ran over to them, surprising them with her loud cheerful voice. "Oh my god! You guys, I'm so happy for you!"

She spread her arms and hugged them both super tightly. Jade didn't push her away or give any snide remarks. She just smiled and rolled her eyes, hugging back. Tori had been on their team the entire time, informing Jade of Cat's situation and vice versa. She knew the struggle they both went through and the journey they discovered when they realized they loved each other. She had known they belonged together even when the girls were technically with the boys.

Tori then hugged Cat incredibly tight. "Cat! You did it! You did it! You did it!" Both laughing and hopping up and down as they danced in a circle. All of the sudden Tori caught sight of a guy coming towards them and she stopped abruptly, hiding Cat's view of him, hugging her protectively to her chest. Jade who had been watching the two in amusement saw Tori's face suddenly fall, making her turn her head to see what had interrupted them.

.

Andre stood back as he looked over the menu from the food truck. He was hungry and feeling like an after school snack. He rubbed his hands slowly, licking his top lip. "Man, can't decide…"

Beck was beside him, watching a couple of girls who were eyeing him with flirty smiles, occasionally turning to each other to comment about him. "What do you think?" Andre asked his absent minded friend. Beck grinned and turned to look at his best friend. "I think I should date again. What do you think about Tori?"

Andre shrugged as he ordered a burger. "Maybe it's just me but I wouldn't date anyone within our ring of friends."

"Why's that?"

"Why?" Andre cooly turned to him with raised eyebrows. "Ya know even with Jade being hard-core and all, she hasn't sat with us ever since you guys broke up. I'm actually missing all her snide remarks and throwing water in our faces. You want to add Tori to that absentee list? I don't know about you but I want us all to be friends and stay together. Ya know, no tension or regret." He received his burger and moved to sit at a table with Beck following him.

"Hey Tori and I could actually last, we get along great," Beck tried to argue as Andre was enjoying his burger, shaking his head at Beck. "And another thing, I don't think I can handle watching two lovebirds all lovey dovey at the lunch table. PDA, naw man." Beck pursed his lip, trying to think it through.

"I'll ask her anyway," Beck got up and headed back inside. "You gone fail!" Andre hollered after him, with a smirk. He swore as ketchup dribbled down his chin, girls giggling at him. "Wassup ladies!" he said with a smile trying to laugh it off.

.

Jade instinctively moved in front of the two girls, spreading her legs in a fighting stance. Tom stopped in mid step. He should've known it wasn't a smart move to approach them head on, but when he saw them all together he thought he'd seem less threatening to them. Didn't seem that way. He gripped the small box he held in his hands and then very cautiously placed it on the floor a few feet away from Jade's combat heeled feet. He very slowly backed away, eyes on the girl in case she suddenly lunged forward and kicked the box in his face. He swallowed hard as he stood up straight.

The hallway was quiet, watching, expecting a fight. Reine was standing off to a corner, distracted from a conversation. Jade was glaring daggers at Tom and if looks could kill…

Tom cleared his throat. "Uh, these are uh… these are Cat's things that … she would leave at my place… thought I'd give them back. I thought to call her but I figured that might've not been a good idea…"

The girls still said nothing. Cat had stiffened in Tori's arm when she heard his voice. Tori still tightened her grip on Cat's back, even taking a few steps back. Tom glanced over at Cat who was hiding in Tori's arms and when she didn't look up at him he saddened. His eyes downcast he started to back away. _So this was how it was going to be…_ He looked up at Jade, " I suppose this is where you say you've won."

Jade crossed her arms rocked back on her hip. "If I did then that'd make me like you now wouldn't it?" she leaned forward. "No, boy, I am way better than you can ever imagine and I won't be parading Cat as if she was a trophy that I won. Better yet I won't even tell you to stay away from her, cause we all know you will," she said smiling sweetly which made him take a few steps back.

"I didn't do anything –" he started but Jade lunged forward to threaten him. He kept his ground and shot back, "I loved her, alright!? I still do!"

"How dare you say that after all you put her through!" Jade shouted at him, now riled up. "You kept on hurting her! And I kept having to butt in to stop things from getting worse! If you think you're going to start a guilt trip you are aboard the wrong train!" They both started yelling at each other, each raising their voices.

"No! Stop both of you!" Cat had wrenched herself free from Tori's arms and hurled herself in between Tom and Jade, arms extended to each one to stop them in their tracks and halt their shouting. She looked back and forth at each of them. "Tom never hurt me! I hurt him!"

Jade took Cat's hand and tried to pull her back away from him, but Cat shook her head at her. "No, Tom would never hurt me. You've all misunderstood him! He's a not a bad guy."

Tori came over, "Hunny get away from him."

"No!" Cat wrung out her hand from Jade's grasp and backed up to Tom. "He cares about me and would never hurt me. He didn't do anything wrong. I hurt him!"

"Cat…"

"Listen to me!" Cat yelled, making the girls stand to attention. "It was always me, I wanted to be loved. I picked Tom. I made the choice to be with him even knowing that I loved Jade. I tried to forget my pain! I am the one that played games with his heart. I'm the one, even though with him being my boyfriend at the time, couldn't stop thinking about Jade." Cat came closer to Jade. "I made all those choices. He saw it. It made him upset. I know it would do the same to you…" Cat gently caressed Jade's face, slowly tracing her jaw. She turned back to Tom. "At the club, you apologized to me and set me free. I know that was hard for you. It was hard for you from the beginning but you kept on trying. I thank you for trying to be my all. I appreciated your love but you deserved to be treated better." Tom looked away, swallowing hard.

Cat took a step away from them both so they now stood in a triangle. "I was being selfish. I wanted you both but in the end I was only fooling myself. That's how I figured I'd be a bad girlfriend…"

"That's not true!" Tom and Jade said in unison at Cat and it made her smile with tears in her eyes. "I'm such a fool…" she covered her face. Jade moved to hug her but Tom made it to her first, hugging her tightly. Jade and Tori glanced at each other and Tori gave her a sympathetic smile. Jade turned to leave.

"Jade, wait." Came Cat's voice, stopping Jade. Cat reached over and took Jade's hand and tugged her back towards her. "I want you two to not hate each other. I want you both to not glare at each other in passing. We share this school and it'll just be too tense. Don't you agree?"

_Who was this talking exactly? _Tom and Jade had the same question in their eyes. Cat held both their hands and was squeezing them tightly. "We need to get along. Please!" Both parties were quiet until Tom very slowly and cautiously held out his hand to Jade to shake. Jade stared hard at his hand for a few seconds then peered at Cat who was biting her lip. Jade rose her eyes to stare at Tom who stood unwavering with his hand still extended out to her.

She shook her head. "You will find I am less forgiving," she sneered at him and then turned on her heels, leaving them both.

.

_**I hope you guys are enjoying my story! Cast of Victorious does not belong to me. I had to throw that in somewhere eventually lol ... **_

_**I'll have to admit this was trying to write. I keep saying I'm going to stop at a certain point but really I think I'm going to keep writing until I accomplish what I want here 9.9 I literally am making this up as I pull up an empty MW file and the ideas just flow as I write. that's why there's so many twists and turns. How's it look for you guys? Does this method work for anyone else? :) I love feed back just as much as I love writing this :)**_


	22. Chapter 22

Tori found the next day quite interesting. She thought Cat would be distraught by Jade's previous actions but the redhead came bounding in showing the guys an item on her pearpad from the sky store that she was excited about.

The guys glanced at her screen then all three guys looked at her questioningly. "Just… what do you want to do with that?"

Cat shrugged her shoulders shyly, "I think it'd be neat." The guys looked at each other confused. "For who?"

Cat then bounced over to Tori, ignoring the guys, as she came through the doors. "Tori! Look what I found!" Tori's eyes flicked over from the guys expressions to Cat's. "Hey, what's up?" Cat showed her the item on the pearpad, gleefully asking what she thought of it. Tori raised her eyebrows in wonder. "Is that … is that for a man?"

"Nooooo silly," Cat giggled, shaking her head. "It's for Jade."

Tori's eyes widened, "Wow, you guys are …that comfortable already?" _They just started dating right?_ Cat looked up innocently at her, "What do you mean? I think it'd be great for her. We need to elevate our love to the next level," Cat said with a solemn nod. Tori chewed her lip. "Whaaat? Uh, maybe you should ask Jade first before you buy that."

"Okay, I will!" Cat chirped and hurried off to look for Jade. Tori stared after her and chuckled to herself.

Andre nudged Beck and taking his cue he smoothed his hair with his fingers and approached Tori.

.

Tom was staring into his locker, suddenly forgetting what he had come to get. He closed it slowly, confusion on his face. Upon closing it he glanced up and jerked back, not realizing that the girl had approached him quietly, waiting for him. Reine leaned her back on the lockers with her arms crossed, staring straight ahead.

"Looks like you failed your little mission," Reine said with a side eye glance at him. Tom only stared at her, recognizing her as the girl who hung out with Jade. He cleared his throat and shouldered his bag. There had been rumors going about that she and Jade were an item but when Jade won over Cat that question was well… questionable. But how was Reine feeling about that? "Are you sorry for it?" he asked, looking around to see if anyone noticed them talking.

Reine chuckled and shook her brown waves. "That you suck at your own motivation? Mmm, no not really. Just how much did you actually want her Tommy boy?" When he opened his mouth to reply she interrupted him with another question. "Do you still want her?"

.

Tori sat stunned and completely bewildered by what Beck had asked her earlier after Cat had run off. He didn't really lead up to it, just out and said it, taking her by surprise all together. She had told him she'd think about it, to which he had responded with a killer smile that had made her melt the first day she had met him. Back when he and Jade were a couple. She swallowed hard, not knowing what she felt or what she wanted to do. Should she ask Jade … for permission?

And speak of the devil she heard Jade shriek from somewhere hidden. "What?! No way!?" Sure enough, Jade stormed out from the corner wall being chased by a redhead who was trying desperately to keep pace with her. "But Jadey!"

"Cat! No goddamn way am I going to wear that! What the hell for!?"

"I just thought it'd help us out since we lack-"

" .No!" Jade abruptly shut her up, then turned and stalked off with her arms crossed. _Okay, Tori would ask her another time. _

Cat caught sight of Tori and sullenly walked over to her and sat down. Tori gave her a cheerful smile, taking a sip from her coffee. "Sooo how'd it go?" she asked as if the entire school hadn't heard Jade's angry shout. Cat pouted, "She wouldn't hear me out… But I think it would look so good on her! I'll go ahead and buy it. It would definitely turn me on!" Tori spit out her drink. Cat stared at the wet spot on the ground. "Am I wrong?"

Tori wiped her mouth with the back of her wrist. "Uh, Cat, couples have to be consenting, you can't just agree on your own. Besides you guys just started dating, shouldn't you slow down a bit?" Tori took another swig of her drink. Cat sat unblinking then turned to Tori curiously, "But we are already …" she whispered the last few words making Tori spit out her drink again, coughing and clutching her chest. She set her drink aside before she actually choked on it. "What?! Last night?!" _Wow, Jade moved fast._

Cat bit her bottom lip, wondering if she had said too much. "Uh, maybe I should go!" She got up abruptly and Tori quickly grabbed her to sit back down. Cat looked around guiltily as if she had been caught red-handed. "Just what exactly do you mean by that?" Tori hissed at her.

"Don't you know?" Cat asked skeptically. Tori shook her head, "Oh nooooo you don't. Don't try that. You said that about Tom too but you then said you two never actually did. Now what the heck does it mean this time?!"

"Ohhhhh," Cat said with a nervous giggle. There was brief silence when all of the sudden Cat bolted from the stairs and ran as fast as she could down the hall. "CATCH THAT GIRL!" Tori shouted. Lots of guys suddenly sprang after Cat, no idea in mind why they were following orders.

.

Cat quickly entered the pottery room and slammed the door shut behind her, pressing her back against it and ducking down from the window. She waited till she heard the clatter of boys run past. She hesitated a few seconds before attempting to open it when she became suddenly aware that someone was in the room with her. She languidly turned her head and spun about, again slamming her back against the door.

Reine chuckled from her seat. "And they say this school is boring."

"I didn't see you…"

Reine raised an eyebrow, "Clearly your male followers were outsmarted by you. Does Jade know you have such a fan club?" The question was rhetorical for she went back to her interrupted activity. Cat had slowly moved in while she was watching her. Reine was seated on a stool in front of an electric powered potter wheel in which a dully formed pot sat atop of. She wiped her brow with the back of her hand; she twitched muddy fingers at Cat. Cat smiled and moved behind her to catch her hair up in a bun with a pin she had in her bag. Thanking her, Reine continued with her project.

"I didn't know we had a pottery class at HA." Cat looked around the room.

"Have you ever done it before?" Reine asked, dipping her fingers in a bucket of muddy water, before stepping on the pedal for the potter wheel to begin spinning.

"Looks dirty," Cat said with a friendly grimace. Reine laughed again, shaking her head. "Come sit, I'll show you." Reine got up and gathered another stool with her foot. Cat tentatively put down her bag on a desk then rolling up her sleeves she went to sit in front of Reine. Reine leaned over Cat's shoulder and taking her wrists in her slender hands moved them to touch the lumpy clay. She placed Cat's fingers on the base and then pushed on the pedal with her foot making the clay spin. Cat giggled when she noticed her fingers were leaving grooves in the clay, shaping it. Reine then guided her hands to move upwards, creating a funnel and then she pushed down on top of it making the pot short and wide. Cat was awed with what she was creating with her own hands.

"Have you and Jade moved up the ladder yet?" Cat was taken aback by her sudden question. "H-how'd you know we were … together?"

"Well I sure hoped so. She's been crushing on you since forever." Those words made Cat blush and shrug up her shoulders shyly. Reine leaned in over Cat's shoulder. "Have you touched her yet?"

Cat froze and stilled her hands_. What kind of questions were these?_ Certainly personal. Cat didn't think she should answer and made an uncomfortable noise in her throat. With a knowing smirk, Reine moved Cat's fingers again and slowly dragged them up the pot, caressing the moist clay as it spun slowly. Cat stared at the fingers atop of hers, guiding them up and down. She then deliberately made Cat slide her fingers inside the pot leisurely, making her caress the folds, gently pushing down on the inner lip, while pushing up with the other finger. The motion seemed so familiar …

Cat's eyes were transfixed on the pot and on Reine's slender fingers. The spinning pot was hypnotizing her, losing her in a sweet reverie. She could see images of Jade arching her back and writhing underneath her that night that Cat had made the sudden decision that she wanted to make Jade hers. She could hear echoes of her moans of pleasure as Cat would kiss her neck and latch onto her pert nipples, using her teeth to make the other girl twist. She gasped at the memory, slightly arousing her, making her thighs twitch, fingers pushing grooves into the targeted pot the longer she thought about Jade.

Reine grinned to herself and she breathed into her ear. "You've discovered her haven't you? Found that she likes it rough, she likes the pain. She's always in control … but she likes the reigns to be pulled on her too," Reine said sweetly, voice dripping with honey. Cat was only half listening, Reine's voice drifting into her muse, as if narrating what Cat did to Jade that night. _Had she let Jade touch her back?_ Her memory was a blur; she only remembered fragments of it. She shook herself when she realized that she was getting turned on by memories. She let out a slow exhale, trying to calm herself, but she was on fire. Reine was making her presence apparent by sliding her hands under Cat's shirt.

"Did you like having control over her?" Reine whispered. Cat's eyes fluttered closed and she arched her neck as Reine's fingers traveled under her bra, caressing the soft but pert nipples under it. Her breath caught in her throat and she hissed Jade's name. If she had made Jade's body belong to her then surely that meant that her own body belonged to…

Snapping her eyes open, Cat jolted from her seat, standing up abruptly nearly knocking the potter wheel over as she stumbled away from Reine. "My body belongs to Jade!" she cried, exasperated. Reine sat still, watching her in surprise. "Wow, Cat. Did you doze off on me?"

Cat blinked many times. She caught sight of Reine's muddy fingers and looked herself over to see any mud stains on her shirt but nothing, her bra nestled safely over her breasts. _Did she day dream Reine coming onto her? _"I'm sorry, I-I-I'm not sure what happened…"

Reine smiled. "It's alright. Hyper lil thing aren't you." Cat apologized profusely and after washing her hands she quickly loaded her bag and scurried out of the class.

Reine continued to re-work the pot that was now disheveled into a strange shape. She couldn't help feeling a little envious of Cat. She had tried to take control of Jade many times but every single time she tried, Jade would push her away and the last time they had gotten intimate it was Reine who pushed Jade away. She regretted doing so but she knew she'd regret it more if she let it happen. She sighed, and here she was saying that Jade was the complex character.

.

Tori had found Jade in the library. She had asked straight out if Jade was avoiding Cat to which she blatantly denied. "Did you see the thing she wants me to wear? Holy, make me feel all kinds of insecure…" Jade mumbled as she placed a book back in its place to pull out another. Tori shrugged her shoulders in mirth, finding the situation comical now. But she had another question in mind. But she had no way to go about it. "Say Jade.."

"Mmm?"

"How long do you think one should wait to date after a breakup?"

Jade paused in her search and flicked her green eyes at Tori, wondering where she was getting at. Tori quickly rose to the defense with her palms out. "N-n-no judgement on your part. I know you had a vicious one and you needed Cat- I mean! You did what you had to do-! I mean Cat was ready for you-! Oh god! Oh my god I-have-no-idea-what-I'm-getting at!" Tori blurted out as she saw Jade's eyes narrow how she often did when she was irritated. "What the hell has your panties in a twist, Vega?"

Tori made a disgusted sound, giving up. "Beck asked me out."

Jade rolled her eyes and turned her attention away from the Latina. She put the book that was in her hands back on the shelf and moved down to grab another, leafing through it, "Annnnnd you're telling me why? Need my permission or something?"

Tori sighed and slid down the side of the shelf unit to sit on the floor. She flopped her arms to her sides. "I guess I wasn't sure if it was a good idea."

"Do you like him?" Jade asked without looking at her, her voice tense, leafing to the last page of the book, grabbing another book. Tori didn't look up at her either but she didn't miss the tone. Tori shook her head, "I've never thought about him that way when you guys were together."

"Really now…" Jade said in an unconvinced tone, remembering all the times she had caught him and Tori flirting shamelessly in the hallways.

"And when the two of you broke up I guess I never had thought about it what with the whole Tom and Cat and you having your melodramatic drama…"

"Soooo sorry," Jade scoffed with a roll of her eyes. She picked up another book.

"Just what are you looking for? You can ask the librarian for help you know." Tori stood up, dusting herself off. Jade ignored her 'helpful hint', continuing her search. "Look Vega, if you want him you can have him. I'm over him."

Tori didn't seem so sure, "Just like that?"

Jade gave an exasperated sigh, "I had my time to grieve and enough times to slap him across the face but enough is enough. Like you said there was enough drama to distract ourselves with. I'm done with that." She put the book away and grabbed another below it. Tori bit her lower lip and stood, leaning her shoulder against the shelf for a minute before nodding. "You happy with Cat?"

Jade now smiled, realizing Tori was just being considerate. But it was annoying. She closed the book with a slap. She turned to Tori with her arms crossed. "Vega, you know you're wasting my time with your questions. I hand-picked Cat and I'm not tossing her away. Not anytime soon." Tori nodded again, she knew the last phrase was sarcastic. Jade was doing better in her moods now, back to predictability. Tori shrugged up her shoulders and defeated she walked away backwards then turned the corner and left.

Jade opened the book she had in her hands and pulled out a piece of paper she had stashed inside months ago. It was a picture of her and Beck making out in the library where they had been goofing off one time and they decided to immortalize by putting it in a book that no student was likely to pick up. She stared at it for a few seconds then she pulled out a lighter and ignited the photo. She let it hang in her fingertips until the flame became unbearable to her touch. She let it fall into the metal trash can and poured her coffee over it as the ashes stuck to the paper beneath it. "Done with that," she repeated to herself as she walked out of the aisle and never looked back.

.

* * *

_Sorry that took so long to update, I kinda hit a writers block and I wasn't sure where I wanted this to go after I got Jade and Cat together, but now the gears in my mind are moving and we're up and running again!_

_Thanks so much for reading and giving me reviews, I appreciate any feedback :)_


	23. Chapter 23

Cat was bouncing off the walls the moment she entered the school doors. She gave everyone she came across a heart candy. She gave Tori a massive hug and to the boys a great punch on the arms. Tori was happy to see Cat back to her usual self. She was laughing and smiling so much that the entire school either looked at her funny or smiled back. Tori managed to grab her and hold her still when she came to hug Tori again. "Cat, calm down! What has you so excited so early in the morning?"

"Me and Jade are going on our first date today!" Cat couldn't contain her excitement. "I've never been so excited in my entire life! Well, maybe when we went to the Balloon Bouncy Land … but I'm so excited!" Cat squealed. Tori laughed with her, hugging her tightly, feeling as though her thrilled emotions were contagious.

Jade then appeared through the doors, drinking her coffee and reading tons of Cat's updates on the Slap. She glanced up and saw Cat and Tori, "Oh hey Cat. Mr. Purple's birthday party?"

"Oh was that today!?" Cat blurted out loud. Andre and Beck came over to talk to the girls.

"Oh yea," Andre said with a nod, "Was wondering what was so special about today. It's Mr. Purple's second birthday of the month." Everyone found it weird that Cat gave her giraffe two birthdays in one month. But she said it was because when she bought him the first month her brother had torn him open for open heart surgery and thus he was reborn when they patched him up. Grim ideal. And was now very old according to the birthdays.

The boys also had no idea that Jade and Cat were now dating. Tori could tell by the way Beck was glancing at Jade as if he had not just asked Tori to date him. She just rolled her eyes. That answered his question.

"So what shall we do lil red?" Andre draped an arm around Cat who was biting her lower lip; he was the one who usually was up for fun and games. He looked at her neck, "Wait, is that a hickey?" Cat slapped a hand to cover it. Jade quickly butted in. "Whatever she's doing, she's doing it with me." Tori and Cat clapped a hand to their mouths, stifling a giggle. Jade gave Tori a questioning glare, so the girls quickly calmed down.

"Uhm, actually I'm spending time with Jade tonight. I'll have to make it up to him tomorrow," Cat had actually forgotten about him. She turned to Jade, "Unless-"

"No," Jade responded immediately, knowing exactly what she was going to ask. Then as if hearing her plea, the bell rang. Everyone left to grab their things and run off to class, but Jade grabbed Cat's wrist before she ran off, with a smirk on her face.

"No good morning kiss?" Cat smiled shyly and moved in closer to her, reaching up as their lips met. Even with heels Cat couldn't match Jade's height, especially when she wore her heeled combat boots. Jade always had to lean in.

The kiss was soft and gentle, Jade gripped Cat's waist softly and Cat wrapped her arms loosely around Jade's shoulders. The second bell rang and Cat tugged away but Jade pulled her back in, whispering into her ear. "I've been thinking about you…" she breathed huskily. Cat made a small whimper. Jade breathed along her ear and neck, inhaling her sweet scent.

"Haunting your fantasies?" Cat asked meekly. Jade groaned in her hair, "I love it when you do that."

"Jadey…"Cat was battling herself. "Sikowitz won't like us being late again."

Jade stamped her foot, "Damnit kitty-cat!" Cat giggled as she dragged Jade with her to the classroom. They stopped in front of the door and Cat pecked Jade on the lips quickly. "I'll make it up to you later, I promise," she whispered, making Jade smirk again,

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Classes were boring the entire day, even black box theatre, Jade's favorite, was boring. She didn't care; she wanted the school day to be over already. She had so many things planned for her and Cat to do and it was painful watching Sinjin do his skit. She hung her head into her palms. Cat's back was facing her with her feet tucked under her seat. Jade leaned back in her seat and moved her foot to tap Cat's heel. Cat gave a little jump, breaking her concentration with a smile, knowing exactly who it was. She started playing with her hair trying to distract herself and Jade leaned over to kiss the fingers. Cat froze, remembering Jade's lips on her neck, her nibbling and grazing her teeth over her skin, getting her hot and tingly that she abruptly shot from her seat, saying she had to go and ran out. Jade did a double take but quickly stood up all flabbergasted, "I better go see if she's okay!" And ran out as well.

"You need a teachers pass!" Tori yelled after them.

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Jade lost sight of Cat and rounded a corner to find Reine. Almost colliding with her, she quickly gripped the wall to steady herself. Reine didn't seem surprised seeing her all of a sudden. Instead she pulled Jade into the shadows and pushed her, pressing them both against the wall. The hall monitor was stalking through the hall, waiting to catch any stray students without a teacher's pass. Jade swore under her breath and made a move to go into the hall but Reine pulled her in tight again, whispering in her neck, "Careful, there's another that follows him in a minute," she kept her eyes out on the hall. Jade stared down at her; it had been awhile since she had been this close to Reine by themselves. The last time was when Jade had come over from the rain and after Reine had towel dried her hair, Jade had practically sexually assaulted her. Jade blushed in embarrassment, ashamed, she turned to hide her face.

Reine looked up and saw Jade's ears turn bright red. _Was she making her nervous by touching her?_ Reine hesitantly pulled away, the motion making Jade turn to face her again. They locked eyes for what seemed like forever. Reine lowered her eyes, breaking the stare. Jade moved slowly, hands rising to the other girl's waist. Reine shivered, watching the hands slide up sensually. "H-how are you and Cat-" she stuttered and then blinked when Jade was gone in a flash. She immediately tried to grab her, just then a teacher caught sight of Jade, hollered for her to stop as she made a run for it.

Reine pulled herself back into the shadows. She had seen Jade's lip part and move her head down to hers. Reine wondered if she hadn't interrupted her, if Jade would've kissed her again. Tom came out of the hallway; he saw Reine hiding and asked her with a lopsided smile if she had lost her pass. Reine didn't answer him immediately but her eyes flicked up to meet his. His smile faded. "Jade, huh?" She moved away from him but he followed her. "You know, you say I lack motivation but I guess the same goes for you."

Reine stopped and whirled around to face him. "I won't wreck a couple."

"She ruined mine by constantly… always around…" Tom didn't know how else to describe it. Reine bit her lower lip, trying to think. "You're a loser," she hissed, walking away.

Tom laughed, "Then you are worse off! You lust for a girl who is no longer even interested in you. The moment Cat is mentioned she is gone to her side. Everyone else is dead to her. We both lost Reine."

"I was not competing with you!" Reine retorted. Tom leaned in close to her. "We both didn't get who we wanted Reine. Admit it."

Reine bit her lower lip again, eyebrows knitting. "Cat isn't my enemy… Jade's indecisiveness is…"

"Then that's easy," Tom shrugged, "You need to make Jade want you to the point where it is too late to turn back, even if she were to hear Cat's name." He pulled out a small purple bottle from his bag and handed it to her. "Two drops of this in incense and it will fire her up."

Reine took it cautiously, reading the ingredients. "Pheromones?" She quickly shook her head. "I can't do that."

Tom pressed it into her hands again, gripping it closed. "They JUST started dating Rei, there is no way that they have gotten far just yet. You can still change Jade's mind. Make her see you are the one for her." Reine slowly looked up at him. "So, this is how you manipulate girls, is it? I know about you Tom Wesley. Girl after girl within a year and you were the one to dump them all. What makes Cat so special that you'd want me join in on your diabolical plan?"

Tom shook his head, looking up at the lights, "It's not like that. She has me by a leash and I can't stop thinking about her. I dream about her every night. Nothing is exciting for me anymore, but getting her back…" he looked down at Reine with wild eyes, "…now that's exciting."

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Tori was the first to inform Cat that Jade was in detention. When Cat asked what had happened, Tori only knew that Jade had run out after Cat when she had suddenly gotten up to leave. Cat brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, clearing her throat. "Oh, okay, I'll wait for her then." Tori rubbed her arm, reassuring her. "You guys are gonna have a great time. Jade knows how to look after her dates. So I hear!" she quickly added. She jutted a finger at Cat's nose. "No stuff from the skystore understand?"

Cat nodded, pursing her lips in a tight smile. As Tori left, her eyes darted left to right._ It had already been ordered. _She went to her locker and gathered her things, putting away her textbooks and loading up the book she needed for homework. As she closed it she found Tom moving towards her with a smile. "So! You and Jade huh?" he clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Excited?"

Cat found it weird that he was okay with her dating Jade, especially since their breakup was recent. Cat smiled in confusion, "Yea, of course I am. Wasn't I always excited to go with you on our dates?" Tom gave a nervous laugh, "Ha yeaaa, I guess that's true."

Cat immediately regretted what she said. That wasn't appropriate. She apologized and he dismissed it, saying it was alright. She then excused herself and started to walk in the direction of detention hall.

"Hey, Cat?" she slowly turned to give him her attention. "Yes?"

He seemed shy but he quickly wrapped his arms around his waist as if he was suddenly cold. "I was wondering if maybe sometime we could hang out, as friends? Even with Jade, if she permits it that is. But I'd like to go to the music store or the coffee shop with you, either one is fine." He lowered his head and quickly shook it, "No, never mind that's a bad idea."

"Tom?"

"I'm sorry, I just miss your company is all," he said slightly sheepish, embarrassed.

"Well…" she looked up at him, "I don't think as friends it'd be a problem."

"Really?!" he exclaimed suddenly elated. She laughed at him, "Of course silly. I want us to be good friends." He smiled wide at her and started to shy away, "That's great! Okay then, whenever you have time then. Call me! I'm always available." She smiled at him and waved at him as he left her.

Beck came around the corner, looking over his shoulder at Tom who was leaving. He swung his face back at Cat, confusion and concern in his eyes. "Did he try anything?"

She shook her head, "Nope, we're just friends now." He nodded and his eyes lit up quickly, "Oh, hey, has Tori talked to you about anything interesting today?"

"Uhm…" Cat quickly chastised herself from almost discussing her date with Jade. She was aware that the boys knew nothing of it. "…Not … really." He seemed bummed and his shoulders slumped. He straightened up right away, taking a deep breath. "Oh well, hey what're you and Jade doing tonight anyway? Sure we can't come?"

Cat giggled, "Beck, don't be so selfish. You have a crew of four with you, why do you need us? I haven't had Jade to myself in a long time." Beck nodded again, understanding. He realized that Jade and Cat spent lots of time together even when he was dating Jade. "Right, right," he shrugged and patted her head. "Well, be good!" he gave her a lopsided grin and left to leave the building.

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Jade was furious when she left the office, quietly smoldering within herself but when she saw a red headed girl seated patiently outside the office it all slipped away. "Cat!" Cat sprang to her feet at seeing her and rushed over, hugging her. "You okay?!"

"Yea, sorry about that. Was caught without a teacher's pass," Jade chuckled even though it wasn't funny at the time. She pursed her lips at the anger it roused in her again. Cat shook her arm, "It's okay! You can forget about that now, it's over. C'mon, let's go. I can't wait to see where you're taking me!" Cat said with so much gusto that made Jade smile down at her.

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Cat was in her room, looking through her closet, searching for what to wear for tonight. She had picked five outfits already but each one didn't seem up to par so she tossed it on the bed. Tonight was going to be special, Jade had promised it. So she felt it was only right she dressed up for her. She finally settled on a dark purple dress with black sequined pumps and she decided to put her hair up in a wavy tail with small hoop earrings. She was admiring herself in the mirror when all of the sudden thunder split the sky in a loud rumble, making her next door neighbor's dog start barking. She looked up confused as the lights flickered on and off. She didn't recall the weatherman saying there'd be a storm tonight.

She grabbed her cell and dialed Jade's number, still admiring herself in the mirror. No answer. _Well then she's on her way. _Cat decided to wait for her downstairs. Her parents weren't home yet and it may be because of the weather. She tried Jade's number again, still no answer.

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Jade was battling with the weather, where the hell did this come from? She had the wipers working furiously to let her have visual of the road. When she was coming to a crosswalk her car suddenly died. She tried to start it up three times, each time choking the engine. Exasperated, she got out of the vehicle and dropped her phone in a big puddle of water. She pulled her jacket over her head and looked around to see where she was. Lightning cracked again and the sound rumbled below her feet. She caught sight of a house she recognized a block away. Grabbing her items from the car, scooping up her water logged cell and making sure the door was locked, she bolted for the house.

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Reine stared at the bottle she had taken from Tom, he really was manipulative but only if you let him. She had finished pouring the oil into the incense burner, lighting a candle when the lights went out with a loud crack of thunder. _Well at least she had lighting in here._ She wasn't going to use the oil on Jade; she had come to the conclusion against it. She wasn't going to be one of Tom's pawns. But the oil smelled so nice to go to waste so she had lit it instead. Tom said to only use two drops but Reine had poured the entire contents. What harm could it do if she was by herself?

She was about to roll over when suddenly she heard the doorbell ring with heavy knocking. She sat upright to attention. Somebody get stranded? Why approach a dark house? Quickly she ran down the stairs, dashing to the door and heaved it open, slightly stuck to its rubber seal because of the moisture. She found Jade standing soaked in the rain. Reine cleared her vision twice. She hoped to god this wasn't the Pheromone working, making a stranger look like Jade to her. But she spoke. "Can I borrow your car? Mine broke down!"

Reine ushered her in and quickly removed her wet jacket. "Wow, you are soaked to the bone."

Jade threw back her sopping wet hair from dripping into her eyes. "This wasn't on the weather report," she said bitterly, visibly shivering. Reine rubbed her arms. "Here, go to my room and grab a towel to dry off. Take whatever you want from the closet to warm up, I'll make you some hot tea."

Jade climbed the stairway, cursing that she was going to be late.

It took Reine five minutes to make the tea and as she went upstairs she smelled the incense and her eyes widened. _She had forgotten about it! _"Jade?" she asked as the door slowly creaked open. Jade was standing in front of her bed motionless, sloppily wearing a pair of Reine's clothes. She slowly turned around, pupils dilated. "What's … up with … your room?" she managed to mumble. Then she ungraciously collapsed backwards onto the bed.

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_I just kept typing non stop this weekend. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!_


	24. Chapter 24

Reine quickly set aside the cups and rushed over to Jade, who was mumbling nonsense. "Jade… Jade!" She hastily blew out the candle and covered the incense and lit various other candles to mask it. "Jade?" she touched her cheek and Jade blinked ever so slowly. "Jade, you okay?"

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Cat was waiting at the foot of her stairs. She had lit the biggest candles she could find and was still spooked by the shadows the flickering flames cast. She hated the dark. She wished Jade would hurry. She looked at her cell again. She was 30 minutes late now and still not answering her phone. Her phone now said 'the person you are dialing is no longer…' Cat sighed. Suddenly outside there was a loud crack and something crashed inside her house, making her scream and run out into the storm.

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Tom was patrolling the area as part of his volunteer group. 12 guys were split up. Each wearing a rain poncho and carried walkie talkies, using bright heavy flashlight to look inside empty cars, making sure people weren't trapped because of the rain. Tom called in a vehicle for emergency backup when he found a couple huddled, avoiding the rain. He reassured them that help was on the way. He kept walking and saw a girl running down the sidewalk and slipped on the wet grass. He ran to her.

"Ma'am are you okay? Why are you outside?" He helped her stand and realized it was Cat. "Cat!? Hey what're you doing in the rain?! Get back inside!" Cat shook her wet hair, "No! I heard a noise and I panicked. The lights went out!"

He nodded grimly, understanding her fear of the dark. He spoke into the walkie-talkie. "I found a civilian, I'm taking her home. Over and out."

"Roger!" the intercom crackled. Tom helped Cat back to her house. "Want me to check what spooked you?" she nodded, hiccupping from her tears. He smiled sympathetically and closed the front door behind him. Sure enough he heard a loud rustling and whistling noise upstairs. Turning on the flashlight, he slowly walked up the stairs. When he came to the clearing he saw a tree branch had crashed through the window and lay on the floor with the rain pelting into the room. He put down the light and grabbing the heavy branch, heaved it back outside, letting it tumble off the shingles. He quickly unscrewed the bathroom door and covered up the broken window to prevent the wind from chilling the house. He propped two statues against it so it wouldn't move. The howling stopped and he sighed.

He went back downstairs, with a heavy sigh of relief. "Just an intruder tree but I showed him where he belonged. Back outside!" he did a funny superhero pose and Cat giggled at him. "You… gonna be okay?" he asked tenderly, keeping his distance.

Cat bit her bottom lip. "I'm worried about Jade… she was supposed to pick me up an hour ago."

"Looks like she might've got caught in the rain, or couldn't leave her house and the power went out so she couldn't call you. Towers might be out. I'm sure she's fine. She's Jade after all. Iron woman right?"

Cat nodded, feeling a little bit better. "You're right."

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Jade was gasping for breath, throwing her head back in pleasure, bucking her pelvis up, sliding her hands up luscious thighs. She bit her bottom lip as her body quaked, suppressing a cry. She writhed and twisted, clutching the bed sheets tightly in her knuckles, breathing becoming more and more shallow. She arched her back, squeezing her eyes shut.

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Cat had asked Tom to stay with her until at least the lights came back on. "Please, I'm scared," she pleaded. Tom looked her over in her wet clothes and feeling sorry she missed her date, he nodded. She quickly went to change with him standing guard, with his back against the door. She emerged wearing leggings and an oversized sweater, shyly approaching him. "Okay, all dry." She realized he was wet too, the poncho didn't cover everything. She grabbed from her dads' closet a large plaid shirt and gave it to him to wear in the meantime they put his shirt to dry. As he changed in front of her she noticed his pants were wet also. She brought him a pair of sweatpants. He laughed and made her turn her back while he changed into them.

There was an awkward silence and then when he was done he suggested they have hot chocolate to warm up. She agreed and was followed down the stairs to the kitchen. She turned on the gas stove and put a pot on. He placed his fingers on top of hers saying he would take care of it, knowing Cat's fear of fire. She nodded, thankful and sat on a counter stool and watched him work. While they waited for the water to warm up, he prepared the fireplace as if he lived here. He stood up after he got it going, staring into the flames.

The pot whistled and Cat urgently went to retrieve it from the stove but grabbed the wrong end and scalded her fingers. She cried out and Tom was instantly at her side. "Cat!" He quickly grabbed her and made her run her fingers under running cold water. He held them there to make sure she wouldn't remove them or complain that her fingers were numb. With the other hand he put the pot aside, letting it cool off a small bit. "Sorry," Cat said with a sob. "So clumsy and hopeless."

Tom smiled kindly at her, "Not true, these things happen." Cat smiled softly and pressed her forehead against his shoulder. "Thanks," she whispered.

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Reine gasped out loud, trying to calm her breathing as she watched Jade writhe and twist as if she were going through an outer body experience. Surprised, she found herself grinning in pleasure, and gasped out loud, covering her face.

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Cat's fingers were bandaged with burn cream and now they were both sitting on the couch, watching the fireplace with a warm cup of cocoa. Tom kept his distance respectfully and related a story he had experienced a few days back, making Cat laugh. There was a long silence and Cat shivered in her sweater. She curled up her feet. Tom pulled the shawl off the couch and wrapped it around her. She asked if he was cold as well and he said he was fine. Cat nodded and they made more small talk, smiling at each other.

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Jade was on her knees, back arched, pushing in between a pair of tanned thighs. She was thrusting with so much urgency, it was nearly pain but she was loving it. She bowed her head to the pair of breasts before her, nipping at the nipple whenever she came to it. Both their skins glistened with sweat and shimmered from the candle lights set around them. The other girl arched her back, allowing Jade to bite her neck and suck on it. With a carnal growl, Jade pulled her head back and let out a laugh into the musky air, her hips still bucking forward, making the other girl mewl, gasp and squirm beneath her.

"Oh god!" the other girl cried, gripping Jade's thighs tightly, digging her nails into her flesh in long red strokes. Jade jerked her head back at her, eyes shining bright and wild. She ran her tongue over her teeth and bit down hard on the girls' collarbone making her scream.

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The lights flickered on and shut off again. Cat and Tom looked up in surprise and chuckled. "Oh, so close!" Cat giggled. They had both finished their cocoa's long ago and were simply enjoying each other's company. Cat had scooted over and Tom saw the danger in that. "You look cold," she said softly. Tom insisted he was fine. So she got up and sat right next to him, spreading the shawl to cover him too. He cleared his throat and took her kind offer and let her snuggle up to him. This was keeping them warm but he was already on fire. He thought if he was ever alone with her again that he would make her his but watching her sitting so innocently at his side didn't make him want to make a move. He felt guilty for even thinking that. Jade was so damn lucky.

With warm cocoa in their bellies, the warmth of body heat and the fireplace, they both eventually fell asleep in each other's arms, waiting out the storm. Cat felt so safe that the diminishing thunder and lightning no longer bothered her and she cozied up to his chest, hearing his calm heartbeat as he slept.

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Reine watched as Jade had seized movement when she had apparently climaxed five times, lying on her back, softly breathing hard in sleep. Reine got up, her knees weak, from what she had just experienced, helped her little to go to the washroom. She splashed her face with cold water, forcing herself to relax. She gripped the sink's edge and let out a ragged breath. She couldn't believe what had just happened. _Isn't this what she had wanted?_ She looked up at the mirror and looked away quickly as if her own reflection stung her. "God… Jade..."

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Birds twittered outside the window and a beam of sunlight entered the room. Jade awoke with a start, annoyed by the cheerful animal sounds. She reached blindly for her clock but it wasn't in its usual spot. She lifted up her groggy head and searched the room. She pulled the covers off and stifled a yawn when she saw a brunette's head peeking from the covers. The girl rolled to her side, revealing to be Reine. _Huh?_ Jade slowly got out of bed and realized she wasn't wearing her clothes. She also quickly discovered that she had a pounding headache. Grabbing her head, she stood up and walked straight into a wall. She staggered back. _Did she get drunk and move her room around last night?_

She stumbled to the washroom and flicked on the lights. She realized she wasn't in her house. H_ow did she get here? _She spun around to look the room over. There were her clothes on the floor and Reine was seemingly naked under the covers. Jade covered her face in realization, piecing the puzzle together in her head.

There was no way!

She had been on her way to see Cat, remembered her car stalling and her running to Reine's house. Lightning flashes and she was suddenly on the bed with a head full of erotic memories. Jade shook her head, trying to deny it. She collapsed against the wall and slid down it. _God no. Please no_. But the evidence was strewn about the room.

Sick to her stomach, she grabbed her clothes, changed into them hastily and ran out of the house, never looking back. She found her car and climbing into it started it up without any trouble. She cursed it and sped away fast with the tires squealing.

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Cat's parents awoke them up that morning. In the middle of the night, Tom had laid out Cat to stretch out on the couch and he slept in the loveseat awkwardly. In the morning when they were found they were separate. Cat's parents were kind and offered him breakfast as in thanks for keeping their childish daughter company throughout the storm. He couldn't refuse them and accepted a fresh batch of waffles and a hot cup of coffee.

They watched Saturday morning cartoons together, chuckling once in a while. Cat kept glancing at her phone, still expecting Jade's call but the operator still said the mobile device was unavailable. The house phone rang and Cat sprang for it but her mother got it before her, answering to her uncle.

Tom patted her knee. "Call her house in a few. She'll be fine, you'll see."

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Jade had swung into her house, tearing her clothes off and throwing them into the wash. She kicked the machine several times when it wasn't working. She ran upstairs to her room and turned on a hot shower, letting the searing water hit her back as she cried bitterly, masking her loud sobs by the rushing water. She was in for several minutes when she heard the phone ring and she knew it was no one else but Cat. She had stood her up and was likely wondering if she was okay. Jade shut off the water and stood still with her head down_. Innocent Cat, who only cared about people even if they did her wrong._

How could she face her now? She couldn't. This was unforgivable. She knew if Cat had done the same thing Jade would've gone berserk. She again reverted to crying, so disgusted with herself. She ran out of the washroom and collapsed onto her bed, curling up into a tight ball.

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Cat sat back on her bed, staring at her phone. "Jadey, please be okay..." she whispered. Tom had left and cheerfully said he'd see her in class Monday morning. Cat had seen him off but not before giving him a hug. He smiled and waved at the parents and was off, jogging down the pavement.

Cat had gone back to her room and closing the door, she sat on the bed and dialed Jade's house number again.

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The phone rang again and this time a message was left. Cat's cheerful voice echoed down the hall. "Hi Jadey! Uhm… I'm hoping you're okay. Crazy storm huh … um… I… I hope you call me back as soon as you get this… uhm, yea… I want to see you soon! I love you! uhm.. see you?... okay bye for now." *click*

Jade had held her breath to hear the message. She had inched closer to it as Cat was talking, feeling calmer strangely enough and something inside her throbbed. "Cat…" she whispered with her voice trembling.

_You don't deserve her._ Jade looked up to see her reflection in the mirror on the wall. _You think you deserve her?_ Jade's lower lip quivered. "I… I didn't mean to…"

_You fought for her and now look at you, in the arms of another woman! _"Shut up!" Jade cried out, tears running down her face. "Shut the hell up!"

_You think you can make it right? She waited up for you._ Jade grabbed her head, shaking it roughly. "No! No, stop it!"

_You made plans to make love to Cat. Did you miss? _Jade grabbed a cro-bar she hid in her room and smashed the mirror. She stepped on broken glass and kept swinging at everything that showed her reflection. "I love Cat!" she screamed. "Don't take her away from me!"

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Reine was on the phone, dialing Jade's cell number, it was out. She didn't know her house number so she sent a text. When the phone would turn on she'd get the messages. Reine sat at the edge of her bed. She had to explain to Jade what happened, she must be going crazy. She dialed again and cursed herself, she had already tried that. Sighing, exasperated, she threw herself back on the bed, but quickly sat up. She grabbed her coat, ran down the stairs and out of the house.

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	25. Chapter 25

_**++++++Warning for those who can't handle blood++++++**_

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Jade stood at her vanity desk, head down, blood dripping down from her wrists onto the black wood, her feet bleeding on the carpet. She shook from the sobs that wracked her body, her hands gripping the table hard. Her hair fell in wet wavy rivulets, cascading over her face. She was wearing a loose unbuttoned, white summer shirt that clung to her still wet body and nothing else. She gasped, trying to breathe, to calm herself. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to shut out the images of her and Reine tossing in the bed sheets. She collapsed to her knees, still holding the vanity table's edge. How could she do that to Cat? She had tried so hard to win Cat over and now that she did, they didn't even make it to their first date. Instead she had made it to Reine's bed.

Jade grabbed a pair of her sharpest scissors and hacked at her bed in violent hacks, crying out in sobs of anger as she hacked up the mattress, swearing at herself the entire time as fabric was ripped into the air. "No! No! No! No! No! No! No!"

Jade then lay curled up in a bloody, sobbing mess on the mattress that now looked like a hamster had chewed it up. She would have to see Cat eventually. She stared at her scissors… death looked favorable right now.

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Reine had little success contacting Jade. The power was back in the majority of the neighborhood but she still wouldn't answer her cell. Did she come home at all? The car may be in the garage. Having no choice she got back in her car and drove off slowly, contemplating what to do. With the way Jade had hastily left without a goodbye had left Reine worried. Did Jade despise her now? She had to explain what happened. Frustrated, she drove to a coffee shop to order a drink, mulling over a paper she forgot to write for class. Unsuccessful when all she could think of was of Jade turning her back on her. She covered her face and hung her head.

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Cat was going crazy with worry. She barely slept and she barely ate, clutching her cell tightly in her hand, not missing a beat if Jade called. Even with it re-charging, she lay in bed, holding it. She had spent the entire Sunday morning calling hospitals to see if a patient by the name Jadelyn West had been admitted. Nothing. Tom called her and informed her that from all the vehicles they found stranded none of them were Jade's. Cat nodded and softly thanked him, lowering her phone slowly.

She dialed Tori's number. Tori's cheerful greeting was quickly interrupted when Cat didn't respond as she usually did.

"Cat, what's wrong? … Is Jade with you?"

Cat sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "I haven't seen her since she dropped me off after school. She was supposed to pick me up Friday night… but she never showed up…" she tried to hold back a sob. "She's not answering my calls…I called the hospitals and car pounds and nothing… I don't know where she is!"

Tori's eyebrows knitted, chewing her bottom lip. Jade not keeping her word? She was so excited about the date as much as Cat was. Something must have happened.

"Jade is Iron woman… Cat, she'll turn up. Maybe got sidetracked. Maybe she had to fly down to see her parents in an emergency…" Tori stopped. She knew that wasn't helping. There was a great storm Friday night; there was no way any planes were flying. But not to hear from her for two days?

"Cat… do you want me to come by?" she asked, soothingly. She could hear Cat shake her head. Cat covered her mouth, holding back the urge to cry. Tori insisted however, she didn't want her to revert back to the pills. "Look, I'll come over and I'll take you over to Jade's place. Okay?" she waited patiently for a sniff in acknowledgement. "Okay, I'll be over in 10 minutes. Wait for me." She instantly regretted saying the last three words, imagining that Jade had said the same thing to Cat.

"Kay…" Cat said weakly. Nodding, Tori hung up, downed her tea, grabbed her car keys and ran out of the house.

.

They got to Jade's house and sure enough it was quiet. The drapes were pulled in so they couldn't see inside. No car in sight either but it could also be in the garage but it had no windows. Tori didn't know what else to do. Seriously where the hell was Jade?

Cat got up to the door and rang the doorbell.

.

Jade roused awake at the seventh ring of the doorbell. She groggily sat up, realizing she had slept an entire day away. She peeled herself away from the bed and the clammy shirt that stuck to her back. She hissed in pain at the sudden pull of the blood scabs on her feet and wrists. Again the doorbell rang with insistent knocking. She stood up slowly, getting her bearings, clutching the stairway rail as she descended. _Wait, why was she answering the door?_ The floorboard creaked and she froze. They heard her; she heard them stop talking amongst themselves.

"Jadey?"

Jade's blood ran cold and her eyes widened, gripping her sides.

.

Tori glanced at the door then at Cat. "Did you hear something?" Cat shook her head, eyebrows furrowing, fingers clenching the door handle.

"I thought I did…" Cat tried again. "Jade? Is that you? Hello?"

.

Jade couldn't move a muscle, even if she tried. She heard Tori's muffled voice and then Cat's high insistent voice which meant she was arguing with her. After a grueling few minutes they decided to leave. Jade nearly collapsed if it weren't for the stair way rail. She gripped it so tight her knuckles where white. She heard the car slowly swing out of the driveway and Jade dashed forward, arms extended.

"No! Cat! Don't leave me!" she shouted but the door remained closed. She wiggled the door handle but it stayed locked. She crumbled against the door, "…I'm so sorry…Please. Don't leave me…"

.

Cat was quiet in the passenger seat. She was flicking through her phone of pictures that she and Jade took when they were friends a year ago. They seemed so happy and full of innocence. That shouldn't have changed. She sighed heavily and spoke to the wind.

"Am I overreacting?"

Tori shook her head, earnestly. "Not at all! You're just a worried girlfriend. I'd react the same way if the person I loved went M.I.A. It's okay though, as much as I hate to admit it but she's damn resilient. She's been through a lot of crap and I'm sure it's made her stronger. Can't destroy Jade, she's like …" she winced at saying it. "… a cockroach."

Cat gasped and playfully slapped her arm. Tori laughed, "A very pretty cockroach!" she insisted. She then shook her head, laughing. "Are you hungry? Let's grab some stuff from Starlucks."

.

They wheeled into the drive through just as Reine was leaving, coffee cup in hand. Cat was texting on the slap and Tori was ordering so none saw her. Reine turned around to see who had honked at her and saw Cat in the passenger seat at the drive through window. She instantly froze and her mouth went dry. She fiddled with the idea to talk with Cat and explain everything but she didn't know where to start. Heaving a big breath she started to walk on over. Even if it were to take a while she would say something either way. But just then Tori's car began to pull away and a loud screech of a tire halted Reine as another car had entered the corner sharply. Reine quickly side stepped and gave the driver the finger. She was wound tight like a guitar string ready to snap. She walked back to her car, looking over her shoulder at Tori's car receding bumper.

.

Monday morning came and Cat was gloomy much to everyone's surprise. "Whoa Cat, did something happen?" Cat burst into tears and ran off. Tori sighed in worry and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

"You guys, you need to cool it with the nonchalant questions okay?"

Robbie looked surprised, "But we were! What happened? Her nona?"

Tori shook her head; she looked at each boy who were eagerly awaiting her answer. She made them huddle closer and whispered. "Jade's been missing since Friday night."

"I thought Jade and Cat had a play date?" Beck asked, confused. Tori shook her head again, "She never showed up."

"Maybe that storm … there were lots of accidents and people were buried under broken stuff everywhere. Andre pursed his lips. "You don't think…"

Tori sighed heavily. "We looked everywhere. She's not in the hospitals and according to Tom her car wasn't on the list of deserted vehicles. It's like she just vanished…"

"Have you asked Reine?" Everyone grew silent and Tori's eyes widened. "Oh my god! I never even thought of that! How stupid can I be?!" Quickly she rushed off pulling out her phone.

.

Tori quickly made it to the courtyard, class was about to start and all she needed was a warm and fuzzy from Reine letting her know that Jade was with her. She quickly dialed the number and stepped to the side, getting out of peoples way. She gave a quick glance upward and saw a dark figure approach the school with their head down, arms wrapped around their waist as if in pain, shrouded in shadows by the tall hedges.

.

Cat looked up suddenly with a start and a gasp. She quickly stood up and looked around her surroundings. Something wasn't right. She got up and left Tom who was trying to console her in her hurry but he remained sitting, watching her go with a grim expression.

.

"Jade?" Tori asked, hanging up the phone that wasn't connecting the call. Jade looked up in shock, she hadn't wanted to see them so soon. But she couldn't avoid any more missed days. Her attendance record was getting pretty bad and if it went on then her parents would get involved and that was one thing she did not want. She swallowed hard. She was sure they were in riots about her, understandably.

Tori approached her carefully, not knowing whether to hug her or slap her. "Where have you been?" she asked quietly. Jade tried to look away. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Jade muttered. She waved a bandaged hand in dismissal. "Just a few cuts and bruises."

Tori bit her lip, staring at her bundled up and bandaged hands. Should she ask straight out what happened or leave that all to Cat? "You… y-you…" Tori struggled with the question but just then the doors of the school swung open heavily with a loud clang of metal on cement. "JADE!?"

Jade now flinched and her eyes sunk back in heavy remorse once again. "…Cat…"

Cat immediately ran down the steps and flung herself into Jade's arms, squeezing her hard and pressing her lips tightly onto hers. Tori hung back but didn't leave. Cat pulled away when she tasted copper in her mouth. Hers eyes widened when she realized Jade had a cut lip and her rash kiss had reopened it again. Jade tried to grin but ran her tongue over her lip, the blood running down her chin. Cat covered her mouth in a loud gasp. "OH MY GOD JADE! I'M SO SORRY! W-w-w-what -! I-I-I mean… H-h-how-!"

Tori's eyes enlarged startled and in shock. "Whoa…"

Jade was feeling a lot better. Although her body wracked in pain, emotionally she was better. All the while she was feeling down and hating herself, when she had seen Cat ran at her with sheer joy and love on her face, it had blown away the gloomy cloud that had hung over Jade these last few days, blasted it away like the sun makes itself known after a frightful storm.

"I'm sorry…" Jade instantly cupped Cat's face with her bandaged palms, wiping away her own blood off the other girl's lips. Cat only stared wide eyed and soon they welled up in tears. "Jade… you're… you're alive… thank goodness…"

Jade's eyes welled up as well and she didn't stop the one tear to roll down her face. "Yea…I'm alive…"

.

Jade refused to be admitted to the nurse's office. She knew Reine would be there. And she didn't want to see her with her friends and girlfriend hanging about. She wanted to talk to Reine alone. But when Jade's cell wasn't working she wasn't able to call and with her mind all frazzled she hadn't been able to recall any numbers.

She insisted that they attend her on the steps of the school or she'd go home. She cursed herself. She didn't want to cower away but she was too messed up to even say anything to her just yet. She watched Cat run eagerly to get fresh new bandages and let Tori unwrap her hands and wrists. Tori noticed her ankles were wrapped also hidden by her boots high collar. She swallowed hard.

"Just what exactly happened? Did you pull out a family from a broken car or something…?"

Jade just sat quiet, staring off into the sun. Tori gave another sigh and pursed her lips as she saw the clotted blood trying to scab as she revealed the cuts. She shook with misunderstanding and Jade looked over at her and removed her hands away from her, knowing she didn't do well with the sight of blood. Tori stayed staring at the ground where blood dots had appeared.

"You're …" she swallowed hard. "You're cutting again?" Tori glanced up at Jade as she began to stand. "Jade, we can help. Cat can help."

Jade seemed comatose just like she was that one night that will forever haunt her, just staring straight ahead, eyes glazed. Tori sat still and lowered her head. "Jade you can talk to us. We won't judge you. Please, just tell me what happened. I'll help you… but you need to let us-"

"I need to break up with Cat…"

.


	26. Chapter 26

Tori stood up abruptly. "Say what?!"

Jade turned to look at her, eyes clearing up, blinking many times as if just remembering where she was. "Jade, you can't be serious," Tori hissed as Cat came bounding out the school doors. Jade's eyes were however now focused on the red head who was smiling at her.

"Tori, leave us," Jade said without looking at her. "No way," Tori insisted, not budging.

"Vega! Go! I just want to be with my girl," she turned a cool glare at her. "Alright?"

Tori hesitated but Cat only smiled at her reassuringly. Tori looked from between the two and then lingered on Cat, rubbing her shoulder with a forced smile. She took a few steps and glared at Jade from behind Cat's back. She mouthed the words 'don't you dare do it.' Jade ignored her and bade Cat to sit with her.

Cat silently unwrapped the remaining bandages and used clean swabs to very gently wipe the wounds from getting infected. Jade sat, resting her elbow on her knee, her hand tucked under her chin as she watched Cat's delicate fingers work cautiously. She smiled tenderly at the red head, her red hair more luminous in the sun, her long black lashes casting shadows below her eyes. She knew she owed the girl an explanation why she didn't show up on their date or didn't call her on the weekend. But Cat seemed content enough that Jade was here with her. All the same, Jade saw that her smile and eyes had questions, whether she should ask or not and maybe feared the answer?

Jade stayed silent as Cat, unfazed by the blood she cleaned up, kept on working, gripping the back of her hand gently.

Cat's eyes flicked over her wrist and saw rows of horizontal scars under the new cuts. The new cuts were random, some thicker, shorter and thinner while others were vertical and x's. She furrowed her eyes in concern. Even her knuckles were cut. _Did she smash something? _She tried to stay calm but she was immensely curious. She figured if Jade needed someone to talk to … she would go to her girlfriend first… right?

Her eyes met Jade's for a moment and realized she was being watched. She smiled and lowered her eyes again. Jade moved closer to her until their shoulders touched. Leaning down to meet the redheads lips when she looked up a second time. A gentle soft kiss, one she had missed and probably didn't deserve.

Cat was amazing. She deserved someone better than her. _Why did this girl attract so much misfortune…_

.

After lunch Tori grabbed Jade by the arm and pulled her into the janitor's closet. "Okay, now you're going to tell me what happened!" Tori hissed in an accusing tone. "I don't want to hear what I think happened understand?"

Jade stood with her arms crossed, "It's none of your business."

Tori made an anguished face. "No, too bad! When you started acting weird around Cat was when it should've not been my business but now I am in way too deep to just ignore signs! I've dealt with the both of you about your twisted relationship issues and I am not letting it go until I at least get answers!"

Jade swayed to the left, leaning against the shelf unit, sighing. But Tori continued. "It's not enough that you made us go through the undeniable thoughts of something horrible happening to you and you just stroll in like nothing happened?!" She motioned at Jade's bandaged hands. Still she said nothing. "My god! Say something! Defend yourself then!"

Tori made a small loop of a walk in the tiny space with her head hanging back. "Jaaaaaade, pleeeease. I worry about you guys. Especially you. You're not still thinking about breaking up with Cat are you?" She lifted her head to look at Jade who was now sitting on the floor with her knees up, head down.

"Jade?" Tori slowly moved close and sat down beside her, close enough to hear an audible whisper. "I just can't…" Tori pursed her lips; she had no idea how to pull Jade out of her rut. "Jade… you can talk to me…"

"That's the hard part!" Jade bolted to her feet and paced the tiny room. "I'm not even sure I should!"

"Jade…"

"I mean I have to because I was unfair!"

"Jade?"

"It's not fair to her!" Jade jutted a finger to her own chest. "I have to take responsibility for my own actions! I'm not being fair! She's so sweet and nice to me and, and I…"

Tori slowly stood up, hands out as if to calm her down. "Easy, take a breath."

Jade kept pacing, hands gripping her arms tightly. "It isn't right. I have to make this right."

"Breaking up with Cat? How will it make it right? Make what right?"

Jade stopped moving and stared at the floor, her hair half covering her face. Tori waited for her patiently.

"I was at Reine's…"

.

Cat sat with Tom and he was joking around as usual, trying to cheer her up. After not even exchanging words just hugs and kisses with Jade, she had felt empty. As if Jade wasn't giving her her all. She had tried to shrug it off but at the same time felt that Jade was so far away.

Tom walked her to her locker before class started. "Hey, I'm glad Jade's okay. Pretty scary huh?"

Cat smiled with a nod. "Yea, thank you for coming over that night. You made me feel safe." Tom smiled back, putting his hands in his pockets, acting shy. "It's okay. I was actually hoping we could go for dinner tonight?"

Cat put away her books and turned around confused, "Jade's back." Tom expected another answer. She gripped her hands, "I want to spend all lost time to catch up with her. She needs me."

She closed her locker and started to move to class but he blocked her path. He quickly calmed down, "Cat, don't you see it? If Jade loves you and appreciates you, you wouldn't be worried like crazy over her. Did she even explain what happened to her?"

"Tom, please, stop talking about her like that," Cat walked to Blackbox theatre with him following close behind. Seeing the class empty, Tom grabbed her shoulders and pushed back against the wall firmly but gently. "Cat, please, you're hurting. I can help you. I gave you away to Jade because I thought she would take care of you. But now I know what a mess of things she's made. You're in pain because of her. Come back to me. I'm the one that loves you."

Suddenly someone forcibly grabbed him from behind and backhanded him with such force that he fell backwards onto the floor on his back. He shook his head and sat up quickly and saw an infuriated Reine standing before him, shielding Cat.

"Jade warned you if you touched her again," she hissed, fists balling.

Tom looked shocked but eventually began to chuckle to himself. "Wow, Reine. Damn. You are one greedy little spitfire aren't you?" He slowly got up to one knee while he wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve. "Ahh seeing your face reminds me of something." He then turned to Cat. "Tell me Cat, how did your first date go?"

No one answered him but he smiled. He stood up gradually and dusted himself off. Cat was about to speak but Reine hushed her, "Don't tell him anything. He's a parasite."

Tom mocked hurt feeling s and chuckled. "Now that's not nice. Fine, then you tell her where Jade was that night." He grinned when he saw Reine pale.

Tom shook his head when Reine wouldn't respond but Cat swung to look at her. "You know where she was?"

Reine made no move to return her gaze but stared daggers at Tom who came close to her. "I would never go against my friend's relationship even as much as I wanted them back in my life. Isn't that right Reine?" He circled her now. "Normally we let things go at their normal pace. But this was different right?"

"I don't think you know what you're talking about." Cat moved behind Reine, wanting to protect Jade's friend. Tom stared at Reine, "Maybe not. So why don't we have Reine make it clear. Or do you want me to tell her Reine?"

"You have no proof," Reine hissed at him through gritted teeth, knowing what he was suggesting at. Tom shook his head again. "Jade's expressions and reactions say it all."

Reine gave him an angered but perplexed face. Tom looked at her and closed in the gap. "Go on and tell Cat here why Jade feels so guilty, so bad, so tortured. Was it really all because she couldn't make their date Friday night? I sincerely doubt it." He saw Reine swallow hard, she glanced back at Cat who was staring at Tom with furrowed eyebrows in concern.

"Shut up," Reine said with venom.

"Were you not that good?" he said with a touch of ice. Reine shoved him back hard with all her strength, yelling at him to shut up. He groaned but quickly stood up, approaching her again.

"Hurt me all you want! But you better take responsibility for what you did to Cat!" he said out loud. Reine grabbed him by his shirt, threateningly. "I love Cat and I would never hurt her the way you did!"

"What's he talking about?" Cat grabbed Reine's arms. "Hurt me?"

"Cat, look-"

"Don't!" Reine began to push him back but Tom held his ground, glaring down at her.

"She deserves to know that you took her girlfriend away from her! Body and soul!"

Cat let go of Reine's arm and took a step back, covering her ears. "What?"

Suddenly the students began to fill up the class. Reine let go of Tom but she couldn't calm down. Anxious, she turned to look at Cat who was already half way out the door when she bumped into Jade and Tori. Cat recoiled back with tears in her eyes. Jade instantly concerned for her, reached for her but Cat dodged her and left through the doors. Tori and Jade looked over at Tom and Reine. Tom pushed past them and rushed out after Cat but Jade grabbed his arm forcibly. Tom shot a look at Tori, wrenching his arm free of Jade. "I told you I wasn't the one hurting Cat, your friend here is."

Tori's eyes fell on Reine and Jade and slowly stepped out of the class to follow Cat.

"Satisfied, Reine?" Tom then left. Jade didn't look at Reine and instead exited the classroom.

"What's going on here?" the teacher asked, seeing so many students leave his class.

.

"Jade please!" Reine grabbed Jade by the arm but she wrenched free, never meeting her eyes. "I didn't say anything. Tom's been trying to take Cat back from the start." Jade's eyes flicked up in a glare and searched the hallway for Cat and Tori. She began to move but Reine had a firm grip on her. Jade gave her an icy stare. "I have to find her and explain."

"Explain what?" Reine asked exasperated. "Tom has already filled her head with lies!"

"It's not a lie!" Jade shouted. Reine jerked her head back in shock at seeing hot tears in her friend's eyes. "Satisfied with… what? What … are you … satisfied about? Did you know … what would happen…?" Jade tried to talk but kept halting at the knot in her chest. Reine felt tears spring up in her own eyes and cupped Jade's face tenderly, pressing her forehead to hers.

"Jade, no. I never wanted this to happen. I never wanted to hurt you, Tom wants us to hate each other, don't let him get to you," She wanted so much to kiss Jade's tears away but she swallowed hard and the next words slipped out. "I love you. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Jade pulled away, shaking her head. "I'm in love with Cat. I hurt her, I hurt her so bad, Reine. Please, just stop this. Just … just let me go." Reine reluctantly let Jade go and watched her dash down the hall.

.

Tom was arguing with Tori who refused to let him get near Cat who stood hugging her purple giraffe, forehead pressed against Jade's cold locker.

"It wasn't my fault!" Tom yelled at her. Tori screamed back. "Whether or not scumbag, you are not getting her back! Cat, say something!"

Cat kept silent, no tears running or any expressions on her face. She felt empty before and now she felt … nothing. _But she had a question_. She turned her head quickly, slicing her brow with one of the blades on the locker. Tori quickly rushed over to her, wanting to pull her to the washrooms to wash her cut immediately. Cat only shook her off.

"Is what you said true? Do you have any proof?" She directed it at Tom and Tori bit her lower lip, worried. "Did you see them together?"

Tori kept quiet. In the janitor's closet, Jade had confessed to her what had happened. But according to Jade, the details weren't clear. So of course one thing came to mind. Reine may have drugged Jade. She hadn't said anything because the entire time Jade was taking the blame.

"How do you know?" Cat insisted but Tom kept quiet, trying to find words. Reine and Jade had both not denied it. She hugged herself and looked around, blinking quickly, clearing her mind, trying to rationalize. "What made you say that?"

Tom stepped forward but Cat yelled at him, "How do you know?!" This was the second time she had yelled at someone for trying to tell her the truth. She shook her head, hot tears brimming on the edge of her lower lashes. "I loved you."

Tom slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder so see Jade was standing a few feet behind him. Jade only stared over him, stern eyes on Cat, not saying anything. The last words were directed at her and Tom unhurriedly moved out of their way.

Tori didn't dare say anything, it wasn't her place. Jade calmly walked over to Cat and stood in front of her. She grabbed Cat and forcibly kissed her. When they separated, Cat backhanded her across the face. Tori gasped and almost butt in. Jade held up a hand at Tori.

"I deserve that. I deserve all your wrath. But Cat, please understand that … that it was…"

"What? Was what? An accident?" Cat was actually quite calm after she had slapped Jade. "It takes two to tango, Jade."

Tori frowned in worry, _she wasn't wrong. _The whole time Jade tried to explain what had happened, the only words running in her mind were, _how could you?_

Tears ran down Jade's face and she shook her head, bottom lip trembling as she tried not to blubber. "Cat … Please…" Cat only shook her head, not wanting to listen, covering her mouth from sobbing. "How could you…?" she whispered.

Tom watched in dismay. He actually didn't want this to go that far. Was he actually to blame? He didn't know what to do but Tori did it for him; she grabbed his arm and pulled him away without a fight, leaving the two girls alone.

Jade tried again, reaching out for her but Cat stepped back, turning her face away. "I thought … I just thought… no, as usual I am a fool. I thought I could trust you, I thought you loved me…"

"I do," Jade began but Cat shot back. "Then why!?"

Jade bit her lower lip, _what else was she supposed to say_? Yes, it's true, it takes two to tango and two wrongs don't make a right. Jade hung her head, falling to her knees. She looked up with her eyeliner running two long streaks down her face, clutching the other girl's waist.

"Cat, I love you. I love you so much; it's why it hurts so much. I love you. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."

Cat angrily proceeded to beat her with the purple giraffe, shouting over and over to let go of her. When it was over she covered her crying face with one hand while the other hand gripped the remaining leg of her cherished giraffe plushy. Jade had her head pressed to Cat's stomach, never letting go and allowing the pelts of the stuffed animal as it came apart with each blow. Jade still wouldn't let go.

A few hours ago she had said she was going to break up with Cat not realizing what a grand mistake that would've been and now? She literally felt like utter shit for even thinking that she would take the privilege of breaking it up. If anything, this was Cat's call. And the signs were clear.

She visibly shook against her, pressing her lips to Cat's belly, squeezing her thighs so tightly she almost made the girl loose balance. "Let go," Cat whispered hoarsely in between sobs. Jade shook her head and Cat tried to forcibly pry her off. "Get off!"

"Cat, don't. I need you," Jade looked up at her again, pleading with her eyes, never had she been so distraught in her life. Not when her parents divorced, not when she broke up with Beck whom she had a relationship for a very long time, b_ut over a week long relationship? _Because Cat meant more than any of those people combined and she had destroyed what chance they had, destroyed the years of friendship for a night of passion. Seeing no other way around it she eventually let her go and Cat ran out of the building, not looking back. Jade stayed on her knees amidst the plushy carnage. Tori came to check up on them and gathered what had happened. Her hair was tangled with stuffing and pieces of purple fabric. She gently helped Jade to her feet and gave her a sympathetic hug. She had no comforting words but Jade lightly pushed her back and without any words went to find Reine.

.

_A/N: Boy oh boy, so much crying! I promise the crying is over from here on out. Did I make Cat overreact? I'm sure no one likes to know their loved one shared a bed with another but oy vey Mr. Purple! Also, sorry it was so long but I wanted to complete this scene in one chapter._

_The song for inspiration for this chapter was ~E.V.O.L By Marina and the Diamonds.~_

_I appreciate reviews and love to hear what you guys think! :)_


	27. Chapter 27

Tori stood patiently as she waited for the nurse to give her the fresh bandages for Jade and a form to fill out. The nurse was with another student who had tripped on the stairs and was seeing if he fractured anything before making him go to the hospital. All the while Tori looked around the office and her eyes fell on a piece of paper that grabbed her attention. Without touching it she leaned over to look at it curiously, smiling to herself then all of the sudden the smile became a frown. She pulled back slowly, staring at the piece of paper.

Suddenly she was called and she snapped around to face the nurse who came in with a package of bandages and a form. "Now, I need her to be checked tomorrow. So have her come in and we'll have one of our interns look after her. Alright?" the lady smiled kindly and left Tori with the items, while she nodded. Tori looked left and right then booked it.

.

Reine was coming into the building from the rain. It was way past school hours and yet some students hung around, waiting for their ride. Cat had run out an hour ago without an umbrella and had gotten on a bus she usually didn't take. Did Jade and Cat talk? She looked over her shoulder one last time and as she turned her head back Tori was standing directly in front of her. "Tori?"

"Heeeey, can you let me in the office? The nurse gave me actual bandages when what I needed are the gauze type ones." Tori said with a sheepish smile, holding out the box of band aids. Reine looked her over. "Are you hurt?"

Tori shook her head, "No, it's for Jade… she uh… she got too excited again…" her voice trailed off and Reine nodded slowly. She ran a hand through her wet hair and led the way to the nurse's office, unlocking the door. She flicked the lights on and searched through the cupboards.

Tori moved closer to Reine and crossed her arms, trying to keep body heat.

"Hey…uhm Reine?"

"Yea, just a sec, they should be here… maybe we're out… I'll check the closet." Reine got up from her knees and turned to check the closet when Tori halted her with a question. "Just what exactly happened with you and Jade?"

.

Jade sat on the bench, trying carefully to peel off the gauze bandages that stuck to her clotted hands. After trying to grab Cat's hands and cling to her, her bandages had started to unravel and Tori had offered to go get new ones for her. But she was taking her sweet time it seemed. Jade sighed in frustration and looked around impatiently. She stood up, snatching her bag up. She should just go home and do it at home instead.

.

Reine slowly turned around to face Tori again with a quizzical expression. "Come again?"

Tori gave her a stern look and re-crossed her arms, cocking her hip to one side. "Can you describe the scenario?"

"It wasn't a crime scene, Tori," Reine said with a glare. Tori nodded and pressed her lips tightly.

"Really?" She stepped up to her and looked her square in the eyes. "Your date of birth says otherwise."

Reine looked to the side then back at Tori. "You looked through my file?"

"I didn't have to!" Tori snapped. "It's like I was meant to find out this way. Does Jade know?" Tori shook her head in disbelief, "You're not a student at all are you." Then her eyes widened. "You're one of those interns!"

"I am a student! I take classes here! And lower your voice!" Reine hissed at her, looking towards the doorway to see if anyone was around.

"You're hiding a lot more and you're not going to tell!" Tori sputtered now more annoyed than anything. "I asked you where Cat's and Jade's relationship would leave you and you said you guys were no more than friends! You lied to me!"

"Tori, calm down. This really isn't what you think it is."

Tori crossed her arms again, "So Jade is making it all up is what you're saying?"

Reine was about to shoot back another comeback but quickly stopped. She put a hand on the table. "Wait. Just what exactly has she told you?"

"That it wasn't clear to her. Everything was fuzzy. She's taking the full blame. But like Cat said, 'it takes two to tango'. Tell me what happened now." Tori said through her teeth, with her nails digging into her ribs, she was getting frustrated with all this. It was always one thing or another. At this age she'd never imagined she would ever experience or see so much drama. "First Tom and now you? I seriously thought you were above that."

Reine slammed her fist down on the table, visibly angry. "I am nothing like him! That bastard! He tricked me! I didn't mean for this to happen!"

"Then** what** happened!?"

"NOTHING!" Reine had shouted so loud that Tori took a step back. Reine's eyes glittered with brimming tears. "Nothing."

.

Beck found Jade who was walking briskly down the hallway. "Jade?" She whirled around to face him, her eyes puffy from crying a while ago. She cleared her throat and tried to act normal. "What do you want?" she sneered.

Beck only smiled but he noticed her hands wrapped in what looked like boxers bandages, except they were coming undone. "Take up … a sport or something?" The thought of Jade punching a punching bag was actually quite exciting and he grinned. Jade narrowed her eyes at him confused but then quickly gathered that he meant her hands. She dismissed it. "Have you seen Tori?"

He shook his thick brown locks. "I'm actually looking for her, told her I'd give her a ride."

"What, you guys dating now?"

"What, you jealous?"

Jade rolled her eyes. And here he was at it again. She looked around the hallway and the lights flickered on and off. She shut her eyes in annoyance. "Oh geez. I'm so outta here." Quickly she left him as she dashed down the hall to her locker to grab her things. Beck grinned again, rubbing his chin.

.

Tori covered her face in dismay. "Oh my freaking god, what now…?" She sighed and rolled her head back, staring up at the ceiling. "You need to tell Jade."

"I know."

"I mean like now."

"I know…" Reine bit her lower lip. "But she won't talk to me. I've tried ever since that night but she won't let me near her." Suddenly the lights flickered and they both got quiet, making them look up.

"Man, I hate this city…" Reine mumbled under her breath.

"Tori?"

Tori turned to see Beck standing in the doorway, tentatively looking in as if he was worried he had interrupted. "I was wondering if you need that ride."

Tori nodded quickly, smiling. "Yea, I definitely need one in this weather!" she turned to Reine. They were silent a moment, Tori heaved a breath and pointed to the bandages in the cupboard. "I left Jade in the east hallway, those bandages are for her." Reine slowly nodded with a grim expression.

"Ah, Jade left a few minutes ago," Beck added in. Tori turned to him, "Out?"

"Her locker I believe and I'm sure then out."

Reine quickly gathered her medical bag and dashed past them, giving them both an apologetic nod.

"Reine!" Reine spun around to face Tori who had run out after her. "Thanks," she said and when Reine gave her a puzzled look she added, "For protecting Cat. I'm sure it'll mean a lot to Jade."

Reine nodded, stared a moment then ran off again.

"Everything okay?" Beck asked, standing behind her. Tori shrugged, "Not really." Beck nodded, not sure he understood. "Oh hey, is Jade taking up boxing now?"

Tori quirked her eyebrow. _Boxing?_

_._

Sure enough Reine found Jade fumbling in her locker. Her heart was beating a mile a minute and she was getting dizzy with anticipation. "Jade," the name finally escaped her lips and Jade jerked backwards so fast that she nearly fell down. Steadying herself the two stared at each other like two deer's in the beam of headlights. Reine swallowed hard and bravely took a step forward and she heard what sounded like a guttural snarl come from within Jade. Reine froze and eyed her as a vicious animal ready to attack.

"Easy, easy, Jade. I come in peace," Reine said softly, hands extended out low. "You need your wounds to get better. I can help."

"You've 'helped' enough," Jade managed to choke out. "I want nothing to do with you. I'd rather lose my hands to a deadly infection than let you touch me again."

That stung Reine. She tried so hard not to cry. This isn't what was supposed to happen. None of this. But Jade was not seeing her eye to eye this time. All the times they used to hang out at each other's places, read and eat together, laughing at silly things, singing together, even when they had unexpectantly made out, Reine cherished those moments. She was furious that a misunderstanding was wedged in between them like a 20ft tall brick wall. Well, she was going to scale that wall to meet Jade again.

She darted forward and Jade bolted to the left but Reine gave chase, reaching out to grab her wrist finally and tugging at her. "Let go!" Jade shouted, struggling against her as Reine opened an empty classroom and tossed her in like she was a child. Jade stumbled into the dim lit room and whirled around to face Reine, her guard up. Reine locked the door behind her and leaned back against it, facing Jade.

"Now you have no choice but to listen to what I have to say," Reine said with a stern face. Jade growled deep in her throat in annoyance. "You've done enough!"

Reine threw her arms up in frustration. "Go on then, tell me what I did to you. Do you even remember what happened that night you showed up all of the sudden?"

"Oh, come on, we woke up naked on your bed!"

Reine pulled her head back, "Is … is that it? That's what you're basing your tantrums on?"

"Tantrums?" Jade jutted a finger to her own chest, "I am no child! I know what happened!"

"Can you please lower your voice, I'm right here."

Jade turned away rapidly, fuming, crossing her arms. She hadn't been scolded in like forever and she hated how it made her think of her parents.

Reine sighed and tried again, "Do you hate me then?"

"No!" That came out faster than she expected and she quickly relaxed her breath in regret. "No," she repeated softer. Jade slowly turned around to look at Reine who stood unmoving, her arms at her sides, looking away from Jade's gaze.

Reine ran a hand through her damp hair and sighed again. "Jade, please. I need you to remember. Can you relax and please think hard about this?"

Jade glanced at the lamp in the corner of the room. "It's been running through my mind ever since…"

They were both silent a few minutes. Reine broke the silence. "Did you hate it so much? I thought you liked me…" she whispered softly, watching Jade intently.

Jade shook her head slowly, "That's not it…" she faced Reine again, she bit her lower lip, eyeing her up and down, making Reine shiver with her cool clear eyes.

"…I liked it."

.

"Satisfied but feeling guilty as hell?" Beck mused as they listened to the radio in his car, waiting at a red light. "Why didn't I think of that?" Tori chuckled at him and clapped his thigh. "I'm sure you have plenty of songs but you aren't a singer." They both chuckled and made light chatter. The light turned green and he turned the wheel to make a left turn.

"Say, Tori."

"Hm?"

"About my request…"

Tori's smile faded and she pressed her lips together, knowing very well it'd come up again eventually.

"Have you given it any thought?" Beck asked without looking at her, hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. Tori sat in her seat, staring straight ahead through the window. "I really don't think it's a good idea. There's a lot going on right now. I know you're an understanding and a great guy but this will probably take all my attention…"

"Anything I can do to help?" he offered. Tori shook her head and slid down in her seat. "I wish."

Beck nodded and raised his eyebrows, "Well you know when Jade had a problem she would more than often keep to herself and usually things around her would pull it out of her." He glanced over at her. "Are there contributing factors to this thing that's going on?"

Tori glanced back at him, "You could say that, buuuuuuuut I really not sure how to go about it. I really don't want to think about it anyway," she rubbed her temples. "Gives me a migraine and I swear an ulcer."

Beck chuckled, turning the wheel at another green light. "I'm here if you need to talk."

Tori smiled kindly at him, "Thanks, it means a lot." He smiled back with a nod and a comforting pat on her thigh.

.

"I mean no!" Jade spun away, grabbing her head. "I mean we made out a lot and we… we… well! You know!"

Reine let out a held in breath in a long exhale. She shook her head, "Thaaat's not what I was seeing."

"Seeing?" Jade turned to face her with knitted eyebrows. "Why are you acting as if you were a third party?"

"Look Jade," Reine cursed herself mentally. "When you went up to my room to change, I had previously drained an entire incense bottle into a holder and you walked right into it. A small amount doesn't affect a person alone but with someone else in the room, it well… invokes desires. I had no idea you were coming over. You were a … pleasant surprise I must say…" Reine ran both hands through her scalp, trying to use proper words. "The amount I had in that room was enough to knock you out and give you … pleasant dreams."

Jade stood stock still a moment, staring at Reine. "Are you telling me… I hallucinated?" she slapped a hand on a nearby table. "There's no way! I remember feeling your damn skin Reine."

Reine slowly shook her head, blowing her bangs out of her face. "You're having a deluded interpretation of what actually happened. It's called somatic hallucination." She rubbed her forehead. "It's when you feel like you are touching or feeling someone when actually you aren't…" Reine looked up at Jade who was staring off into space.

"So I'm crazy now."

Reine shook her head quickly and stepped closer to her. "No, no, it was just the ambiance, Jade." She took Jade's hands carefully, "Look, I'm sorry I didn't leave you alone but at the same time I didn't want you to choke on your spit or something, you were … quite restless."

Jade's eyes widened. "You… watched me? Just what was I doing?"

Reine bit her lower lip and a blush rushed up to her cheeks. She quickly darted her eyes from meeting Jade's cool eyes. Jade moved in closer to her, backing her up against a desk. Reine kept turning red, as if she was being cornered by a guy who had explicit intentions for her. "Jade…"

.

Tori pulled away from Beck after they had stopped the car and waited inside. Their lips had met in passing when she went in to give him a hug. He smiled sweetly, brushed the hair from her face and gently reached over to kiss her properly. Tori closed her eyes and kissed him back.

.

Jade hung her head, hands on the desk on each side of Reine's hips, "Why do you do this to me?" she whispered hoarsely with a ragged breath.

Reine touched her head with her own forehead. "I'm sorry. I know how upset you were with the thought of you and I having sex. I had to clear that up… I didn't want you thinking that we did something to destroy your relationship…"

"I wasn't upset about the fact of you and me …" Jade sighed and straightened up her posture, looking Reine in the eyes. Reine looked hopeful and at the same time timid, knowing what she was going to say.

"I was upset because I was with Cat and it looked like I cheated on her with you, I'm sorry," Jade gave an exasperated exhale. "And then it turns out I was just having an inner/outer body experience."

"I'm glad you believe me," Reine said leaning back against the desk comfortably with her hands on the edges. Jade chuckled and raised her eyebrows. "Well, weirder things have happened."

Jade then swallowed hard and ran her fingers through her hair, "I guess I just imagined you in my dreams then. I guess that's awkward…"

Reine tilted her head to the side with an alluring look, biting her lower lip. "Was it really me?"

Jade lifted her head and glanced at her. She instantly got flashbacks, the gasping, the moaning, and the thrashing of red hair across the maroon sheets. The pretty little pink mouth open in an 'O' as the other girl arched in her dreams. Jade biting her collar and sucking on her erect nipples, gripping thick tanned thighs wrapped around her own porcelain waist as she urgently thrust into her. Jade covered her face and went dizzy with happiness and admittedly arousal. "Oh my god," she replied in a shaky breath. "Why didn't I remember this before?"

Reine crossed her arms with a chuckle and a sigh of relief. "Ohhhh geez, this is kinda funny."

They both started shaking with laughter and hugged each other tightly. They calmed down after a few minutes and stood embracing. Reine caressed her back gently as if soothing a child. Jade's eyes suddenly sprang open. "Wait," Jade jerked her head up. "I had a dick?"

Reine again burst out in laughter, "Seriously? That didn't clue you in?! You're impossible!" she lightly slapped Jade across the face in a playful manner, making Jade flinch and chuckle. "My dream come true," Jade laughed, making a grab at Reine's hand.

.

_**Sorry for the long wait but I seriously had a writers block and now things are flowing again. Hope you like this installment! Thanks for everyone who review :) and I appreciate any kind of feedback! Thanks for reading! 3**_


	28. Chapter 28

Reine took a hold of Jade's hands and held them, rubbing small circles on her palms. After looking at them for a while, she said with a soft smile. "Just know that you have people that care about you. Cat, Tori and I included. We all love you." Jade furrowed her eyebrows, understanding what she was getting at but hated the fact that so many we're affected by her actions. They were now sitting in the nurse's office and Reine was attending to Jade's cuts.

"This has nothing to do with any of you." Jade finally whispered. Reine flicked her eyes up to meet her briefly and shook her head. "I wish you wouldn't think that way…" she looked back at the porcelain bruised wrists. _The color didn't look healthy …_ an infection no doubt. She bit her lip, worried. _What type of cutting tool was used? Did they scab over without treatment? Were these cleaned properly?_ _Was she cutting because of what she thought Reine and she had done?_ She had no idea how to go about asking such questions.

Jade knew her wrists have looked better. _Were mirror pieces deadly? _"It's not what you think it is …" she managed to say. Reine's eyes narrowed and she glanced up again to meet her gaze. "Why are you doing this?"

Jade meet her glare. "Don't give me attitude."

Reine shook her head, "No, you're going to tell me why you are doing this."

Jade gave a frustrated grunt and sprang to her feet, gathering her things quickly, making her way to the door. Reine grabbed her bag and ripped it out of her hands making Jade turn around in anger. "Hey!"

"You are not running!"

Jade stormed over and towered over her, glaring down at her with her smoldering clear eyes. Reine stood unwavering, returning her glare, eyes glittering with tears welling up. "The moment you thought you and I had sex you went m.i.a. You cut off all contact. Your friends worried over you. You made me worry about you and all the while you were cutting yourself? Why?!" The tears finally spilled all the while Jade had tried to interrupt, but her voice caught in her throat when Reine cried. She didn't know what to do. It tugged at heart strings and she wanted to reach over but she tightened her fists and remained her ground. "What else was I supposed to think after I woke up find the both of us naked?!"

"We were not naked! I was in my underwear! Oh my god Jade! You were so disgusted that you actually endangered yourself? Was it really worth it?!" Reine shouted at her.

Jade threw up her arms. "I already told you what happened!"

"And I should just trust what you say? How do I know you're not lying to me!?"

"The same way I know you're not lying to me!" Jade yelled back. Both girls quickly quieted down. Reine shook her head, drying her tears. "I can't keep doing this." She walked off and started to pack up her things. "I can't keep seeing how torn you are about how you feel."

"How do you know what I feel?" Jade said bitterly. Reine threw her bag down onto a chair and approached Jade again, with her arms crossed. "Tell me how you feel then," she said bitterly.

Jade eyed her over but took a step back, eyes turned away.

"You can't can you…" Reine swallowed hard. "You can't even look me in the eye and tell me who you lov…" Jade interrupted her mouth with her own, pulling Reine against herself, gripping her back tightly.

.

"For some reason… I'm not upset anymore… kinda blew away with the storm as it went…" Cat looked up at the night sky that had cleared when she got home. Tom had used another number to reach her and she had almost hung up but he profusely repeated that he was sorry. They sat outside on her porch, him on a chair while she sat on the wooden loveseat swing. In the past he used to come over at night to meet her with her favorite sweet and a flower he randomly found that she thought was cute. This time he was empty handed but his heart full of apologies.

"Funny how we keep meeting like this…" she continued. She glanced over at him who watched her back with worried eyes. She looked away, "I've laid off the meds. You don't have to come around anymore."

"I want to," Tom said softly, he inched to the edge of his seat, hands knotted together, face grim. "Cat, you need someone."

"It's true. I do," she slowly raised her eyes at him. "But it's not you." She stood up, finally able to retire for the night and Tom stood up immediately. "You're not thinking of taking her back are you?" he asked desperately at her back.

The redhead stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder. "You know, long ago when I first dated you, I thought you were all about me. Now I see you're all about yourself. But there's nothing wrong with that. So I suggest you leave me about myself."

Tom shook his head vigorously. "Cat please! You've danced long enough around this! With her!"

"And I will keep dancing with her as long as she will have me. Good bye Tom," she said with a half-smile before disappearing inside the door, locking it behind her.

Tom cursed under his breath and ran to his car and ripped out of the driveway in haste.

When he was gone for certain, Cat sneaked out of the house and climbed onto her bike, quickly riding in the opposite direction.

.

Jade stared wide eyed with a hand to her cheek where Reine had backhanded her. Reine was clutching herself and her expression was livid. "Don't lie to me!" she cried. "If I am the reason you are in such turmoil then enough! I've had enough! I can't keep doing this! How can someone who doesn't appreciate herself appreciate me?"

Jade tried again. "I've tried to be who I want to be. I've tried handling my emotions. Maybe I can't keep them in. I seem to be getting into situations where I'm involved with someone and be thinking about someone else. It's happened twice. If it's something I can fix, then please!"

Reine grabbed her head and Jade moved in close. "Help me," she whispered. Reine choked back tears, trying to compose herself. She reached up and took a hold of Jade's head, pulling it down to hers, pressing their foreheads together. "I am," she breathed. She turned and grabbed her bag and headed for the door, without turning she uttered, "Good bye Jadelyn." And exited the building.

.

After Beck had dropped her off, Tori didn't feel right. When they had made out she had instantly felt guilty. She had no idea why._ Was it because those lips had kissed and done things with Jade? _But why should it bother her, it's not like they were together anymore and they had broken up months ago. Tori laid down onto her bed, finally in her room after a crazy day. She sighed heavily and covered her face with her arm.

Beck, then Cat and now Reine… who was next? _And just what is Jade doing?_ She rolled onto her side. She closed her eyes, too tired to even change her clothes. Jade couldn't be acting herself… in the time she has known Jade; this was a whole new side to her.

Suddenly there was a light tap on her window that made her jump up to a sitting position. _Did someone just tap on her window? _She was two floors up. Another tap and she approached cautiously, opening her curtain slightly. Reine was below the tree under her window, looking up at her, beckoning her to open the window. She swung it open and glared down at her, "Come to turn yourself in?"

Reine looked around herself and then back up at her. What was she planning, Tori wondered. "My dad's home!" she hissed, almost feeling protected. Reine frowned. "Just what are you- look I need to talk to you. Can you come down?"

"No way! It's raining!"

"Fine, I'm coming up."

"What?!"

Sure enough, Reine climbed the tree in her sneakers and skirt and gave a huge leap to land onto the ledge below her window. Tori backed away, placing towels on the floor under the window, allowing Reine to climb in with her muddy sneakers.

"I'm leaving town tonight," Reine said after a few seconds of quiet. Tori's eyes narrowed, "That wasn't what I was referring to-"

Reine shook her head, "I was kind of in a hurry but I need you to watch out over Jade while I'm gone."

"What, why? Wait, you're leaving? You're leaving this mess?!" Tori hissed loudly, careful not to wake her parents. Reine brushed it off so easily, making Tori frown again. "Jade and I talked it out, we're … fine. Look, Jade's cuts haven't been healing properly and I fear that they are infected. I need you to make sure she goes to the hospital."

"Infected? How? Wait," Tori covered her face, trying to think straight. "Has she been having symptoms?"

Reine nodded, "I think that's why she's not herself. I think she has blood poisoning."

"Oh my god! You were just talking to her? Why didn't you take her?!"

"She doesn't listen to me!" Reine spun around in frustration. "She seems to listen to you."

Tori folded her arms, "Grudgingly."

"But she does it. You need to take her, I don't know how long she's been putting it off but I'm pretty sure it's making her not think straight," Reine tucked a lock of wet hair behind her ear. "Damnit, you're right. I should've taken her!" Tears welled up in her eyes again. She frustratingly wiped them away, biting her lower lip. "I technically broke up with her… we can't keep seeing each other…"

Tori pursed her lips and invited her inside, where it was warmer. They sat on the bed after Reine had changed her clothes. Hardly any of Tori's clothes fit her; both Jade and Reine had the same body type, curvy and luscious while Tori considered herself scrawny. But now was not the time to consider that.

Reine sat curled up in a large shirt Tori's father gave her long ago while her clothes were hanging up to dry, after Reine protested they couldn't go in the dryer.

"Sorry," Reine sniffed. "I was going to go to Cat, but I hear she is scary when's she's pissed off and I didn't want to make anything worse than it is…"

Tori nodded, "It's fine. I understand." _Cat was scary when she was pissed?_

"Jade and I got into an argument. I have to disappear…"

"That bad? She chased you away?" Tori asked softly. Reine glanced at her, pursed her lips then looked away. "I'm guessing by the looks of it that Jade didn't use to cut herself until she discovered she had feelings for the same sex… or in this case Cat. And there's me… I seemed to have fucked up a lot of things… If I'm the reason Jade is behaving this way then its best I just leave her life and let her move on. Damnit!" she covered her face as the tears fell again. "God, I have never cried this much in one day."

Tori rubbed her back sympathetically. Reine looked up again, "And you know what the stupidest thing about this is? I'm not even into girls. Suddenly Jade shows up and my world was thrown upside down. I told her I loved her even with all this shit going on. I really am a horrible person…"

Tori shook her head and shrugged, "Sometimes, you need another person in your life to change your view on life. I don't think you're into girls. I think you're just into Jade." She paused a second. "How did she react to you telling her you loved her?"

"I did it when she was chasing after Cat. She told me to let her go… So I am. First Tom and then there was me. I really didn't mean for this to happen. I really do want Cat and Jade to be happy. Together." Reine looked at the window, "But if I go then Tom has to go too."

Tori sighed, "I'm talking to my dad in the morning to get a restraining order on him but Cat has to file it and we both know that she wont."

"Tom's unstable. So was Cat once I hear and now Jade… geez," Reine bit her lower lip. "I should go," she stood up abruptly and started collecting her semi damp clothes.

Tori stood up too. "Where will you be going?"

"Back to New York. That form you saw with my details was a resignation, from a week ago. So don't think you had any influence in my decision." Reine pulled the shirt over her head, glimpsing at Tori. "In case you felt bad or something."

"Well I do feel bad," Tori said indignantly, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't want you to go. Not like this."

"I'll fix this, don't worry. It'll be like we never existed." Reine climbed back out onto the balcony and Tori ran after, trying to stop her but she was already climbing down the tree. "You sure you're not part of a circus or something?" Tori shouted after her.

Landing, Reine looked up with a whirl of brown wavy hair and flashed her a smile, hazel eyes twinkling.

"I guess you'll never find out. Good bye Tori."

Even before Tori could lift her arm to wave, the musician-nurse was gone.

.

Jade entered her house and trudged through the dark house in muddy boots. She slapped the mail and her car keys on the counter as she routinely did every day. She flicked the lights on and began taking her coat off when she noticed a few particular envelopes she had been waiting for months now. Letters concerning whether she was accepted to the best film schools in the country. She quickly snatched the first one up and tore into it. She quickly scanned it to where it said "we are pleased to inform you …"

"Yes!" she cried out loud, suddenly full of happiness. The next three said the same thing. She had been accepted to all of the schools she applied to. She crushed the papers to her chest in joy. This was the highlight of her awful week. This was it. A brand new start to get her life back on track. To get away from this miserable place with so many memories. She needed to get away and this was a sure sign. She felt so much tension lift off her shoulders. She looked at them again, NYU, California, Tennessee and Chicago… problem was which location was best for her. She had a week to make a final decision.

She decided to make a decision tomorrow and just go to bed at the moment. She went to her basement quarters and removed her clothing, making the sudden decision to take a shower, due to the mud and rain on her skin. She turned on the water and let the hot water run over her head for a few seconds before adding the cold. She stood under the pelting water, her mind running over the decisions she had to make. Tennessee Vanderbilt was one of the best schools but she was also accepted in UOSC which was located in the same state, that way she still be close to Cat.

She shut off the water after rinsing. _That's right. Cat. What about Cat? What about us? Was there even an us anymore?_ Jade pressed her forehead to the cold tiles. _Did Cat even want to see her face anymore?_

She heard a clink upstairs and she jerked her head up suddenly aware she wasn't home alone.

.

**_Hello, hello, glad I still have your attention! :) _**

**_I'm actually writing chapter 29 as well. I kinda do want to get this over and done with and I'm probably making it longer than it should be. I wonder if anyone saw it going in this direction when you read chapter 1 lol cause I sure didn't. I hope you enjoy! have a great day~! :)_**


	29. Chapter 29

**_WARNING: MATURE CONTENT AHEAD_**

Jade got out of the shower as quietly as she could. She grabbed the white summer shirt she had hanging on a hook nearby. She managed to button up a button as she climbed the steps up to the living room. She thanked her mother for only buying the newest houses so nothing creaked. She hid behind a wall and flattened herself against the shelf in the hallway, peering over it. She crouched low and reached behind the bookshelf and grabbed a hold of her dagger, where she hid it from her mother. She hefted it, holding the blade facing away from her wrist, half hiding it in her long sleeve. She waited for another sound and stayed crouched down. She listened intently and then it came. Her head snapped up, shuffle on the top floor. She quickly and hastily strode across the marble floor and quietly as possible sneaked up the stairs, crouched low and against the wall.

Entering the hallway to the bedrooms she saw her other bedroom lights on and the door ajar. She stepped forward and cringed but no sound of glass crackling under her feet came. She looked down quickly and glanced around wildly. The house was clean, no glass or broken mirror pieces anywhere. _Was her mom home?_ Her heart quickened and she swallowed hard. She stood still, skin crawling. Should she head back downstairs or confront her now.

"Jadey …" came a soft voice, barely audible but Jade heard it and it prickled her damp flesh with goosebumps. Before she knew it, her body was propelling forward, hand reaching out to push the door open.

The door swung open so fast that it thudded against the wall. The girl on the bed spun around quickly at the sudden noise and her eyes widened. "Jade!"

Jade rushed forward, not believing her eyes. "Cat," she breathed out. Jade tossed the knife aside and they both ran at each other and embraced. Jade hugged her close, her heart relieved beyond belief, her body melting as their lips met.

Cat crushed Jade's face close in a passionate kiss, all thoughts escaping her mind. She had wanted to talk to Jade in person, to apologize for hitting her and leaving her alone. She had used Jade's spare key she had been given a long time ago and came inside to a house of Jade's visible turmoil. She had diligently cleaned up everything, making sure no shards or slivers were left. She waited to surprise Jade but she was tired and had lain down on the large fluffy bed. And now here was Jade, naked for save a very thin shirt, wet and warm. Cat's lips couldn't get enough of Jade's, hardly coming up for air, arms wrapping around Jade's head, holding her tightly, both breathing heavily, none letting go.

Cat was only wearing a short dress with shorts underneath but she pushed her pelvis against Jade's, moaning in the kiss, allowing Jade's hands to glide down her back to her waist.

Jade forced herself to pry her lips off of Cat's, breathing hard. She pressed her forehead to Cat's, eyes closed, hugging her close. How she missed the red head so much it hurt to even admit.

"I'm so sorry about everything," they both breathed out in unison, making them smile. Jade shook her head, "No, it's me. All me. I am so sorry. I promise none of that happened. I swear. God, Cat, I love you so damn much-"

Cat interrupted her with her mouth, pulling her head down. Once they were able to pull apart, Cat ran her fingers through Jade's hair. "I'm sorry I never stayed to listen to you… I … well shocked… but I should've trusted you…" Tears welled up in her eyes and she covered her mouth to suppress a sob. Jade took her hand away, staring at her lips, suddenly aware that her body was on fire pressed up to Cat's. She shook her head. She wanted Cat. _Was it wrong to reinstate the relationship this way?_

She hated to compare but Cat was the only one who actually made her not think, her body reacted, her lips wanted more of hers, her body craved her touch, her soul wanted to swallow hers up. "Cat I love you," she whispered. "Please forgive me."

Cat shook her head and kissed her again, then pulled back, "I do," she whispered back. "I do."

She took a step back slightly, hands off, eyes on Jade. She looked Jade up and down slowly, taking her in with her eyes. Her porcelain belly and cleavage exposed and still dripping with the remaining drops of water. The shirt clinging to her curves as if she was wearing nothing, seeing the color of her nipples. Long wavy dark hair with pink highlights slicked back and dripping wet down her sides and back. Cat bit her lower lip. _How could she ever be mad at Jade?_

Without a word, Cat began to unbutton her dress and let it fall to her feet in a soft pile she stepped out of and watched Jade's expression go from curiousity to wonder. She remembered she had not let Jade touch her once when they had sex the first time. She was going to make up for everything with her body now. Only Jade would do. Only Jade would ever do.

Jade reached for her but Cat smirked at her and climbed backwards on top of the bed, wriggling her hips playfully. Jade approached her slowly; faces inches away as Jade breathed her in, caressing her thighs. She undid the button and zipper to her shorts and gently slid them off her light brown thighs until they slid off her toes. Jade kissed her shin, kissing her way up slowly. She kissed the thighs and lingered on her hip bone. Kissed her bellybutton and gently glided up her chest.

Cat lay down on the bed, caressing Jade's head as she traveled up her collarbone and neck, kissing her mouth at last. Cat undid the button that was holding Jade from being completely exposed and revealed her beautiful body, pulling it down on top of hers, feeling their warm breasts touch and squeeze against one another.

"Cat," Jade breathed out in an exhale. Cat looked up at her, tugging at Jade's bottom lip, an arm encircling her waist while the other hand took a hold of Jade's hand and slowly guided it in between them, placing it on top of her underwear. "Touch me," Cat whispered ever so softly. Jade closed her eyes and hid her face into Cat's shoulder, breathing hotly and kissing the flesh softly.

When Jade's fingers slid under the fabric, she felt Cat's body accept her. Her arms wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her closer, kissing her ear softly, breathing into it, making Jade's skin shiver deliciously. Jade stroked the soft and warm flesh, taking her time, savoring it, sliding her forefingers up and down on her clit gently, loving how wet, slick and velvety soft it felt. When Cat slowly slid her thighs apart underneath Jade, she entered her fast, making Cat gasp and tilt her head back at the sudden shock. "Jade!" she cried out in a gasp, holding her breath with her mouth open, adjusting herself. "Oh god…" she exhaled at last. Jade found her mouth again and kissed her softly as she moved in and out slowly, using her hips and thigh to push Cat down deeper into the mattress.

Cat's hands fell to Jade's hips, gripping her bare ass, feeling the muscles squeeze and tense with each push. Jade's fingers dug in deeper inside Cat's walls, mesmerized by the soft sounds that Cat was making, mewling and gasping, breathing hard and writhing. "Oh god Jade," she said in between breaths. Jade no longer able to control herself yanked Cat's panties off and made her wrap her thighs around her waist. Cat giggled and Jade smirked playfully down at her and continued to push into her, using her thumb to rub her clit at the same time. Cat's eyes rolled back and she arched her back, arms over her head, gripping the white sheets in her fingers, twisting and writhing, red hair all over the bed.

Jade watched her, keeping momentum. This was exactly like her hallucination. She had been making love to Cat the entire time. _Why didn't she this before? _Only difference was that she had no appendage to unite them. She cursed under breath and shut her eyes, still willing to enjoy this moment. Making love with the girl she loved with all her heart.

"Cat," she breathed out raggedly, moving faster. "Be mine forever," she felt her breath hitch and she was close.

Cat was pushing up her hips to grind with Jade's, both lost in their reverie. Cat felt her stomach tighten and her thighs stiffen, feeling the flush of heat up her groin to her belly, sensing it waft through her body. She threw her head back and without thinking opened her eyes, her eyes catching a shadow on Jade's balcony. Her eyes widened as she screamed and came at the same time.

.

Reine was taking a drive and drove by Jade's house just to have one last glance at the girl before she left. Even in the darkness she could see a shadow. _Was somebody on her balcony?_ She brought the car to a screeching stop when suddenly she heard screams and glass breaking. _A break in! Was Jade home? _Without a second thought, Reine ran out of her car and towards the house. "JADE!"

.

Jade's head snapped up at the glass shattering and instinctively shielded Cat. After the initial shock they both quickly scrambled away as they split in separate directions. Jade rolled off the bed, shirt flapping open as she confronted the intruder, darting for the dagger on the floor but it was kicked aside by a heavy foot. He slapped her across the face and she fought back as she always did when he confronted her. "Tom," she hissed in disgust. "What the fuck are you doing here?!"

Tom had a scary look on his face. "I couldn't watch anymore at you disgusting thing! How dare you do that to her!"

"Tom, Stop it!" Cat screamed at him, standing in the corner, wrapped up in the blanket. "Just leave us alone!"

"I waited patiently and I never forced myself on her and you just went ahead?! I should just kill you now!" Tom shouted at Jade, face contorted in anger. She ran at him to hold him back but he managed to get her in a choke hold. "But I won't," he hissed. He brought down a Taser and forced it onto her neck, sending electricity through her body. She gave a strangled shout of pain and fell forward in a twitching heap.

"JAAAADE! NOOOOO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" Cat ran forward to reach Jade but Tom scooped her up in his arms and rushed out of the room with her kicking, screaming and scratching at him.

.

Reine found the door locked and she rounded the building to find another entrance but when she couldn't find anyway in she began to dial the police but before she could press send another scream, this time Jade's. Suddenly hit with adrenaline and fear, she threw a huge rock through the basement window and clambered inside, cutting herself with the shards of glass. She waited to hear if anyone had heard her. But only more screams sounded off, this time Cat's. _What was going on?!_ "Cat! Jade!" She shouted but none could hear her over Cat's crying and screaming.

.

Cat had instantly quieted down when she remembered that Tom had the Taser and could use it on her and possibly rape her without her knowing. But he was surprisingly gentle. He set her down on the bathtub and ran the water over head. "Let's get you cleaned up," he said softly, eyes on her. He removed the blanket she used to cover herself without any trouble. She whimpered and hugged herself, squeezing into the corner of the shower, getting far away from his as possible. _Was Jade dead?_ Her body wracked in silent sobs. _This had to be a nightmare. Please let it be a nightmare. She wanted to wake up! _

"W-w-why are you doing this?" she finally managed to whimper. Tom looked up, eyes clear and soft all of the sudden, full of worry. "I came to protect you," he whispered. She choked back a retort, not knowing what to do.

"How was dancing in the sheets with her? Huh?" He was getting bitter, corners of his mouth sneering downwards at remembering the image of Jade on top of Cat and Cat's face full of ecstasy. "Your body belongs to me, I will wash off anything she has touched and you can come back to me for a new beginning."

He started to smile, face enlightening. "I remember now how people start new beginnings." He promptly went to the cabinet and pulled out an electric razor. He proceeded to shave all his hair off, slowly, watching himself in the reflection of the mirror. Cat watched him wide eyed, clutching herself. The space was too narrow to run past him.

After he finished he turned to her, "There, all done. How do I look?"

_Like a homicidal maniac! _Cat shied away from him, more scared now.

"Your turn," he grinned and approached her. "Let's get rid of all that hair that she has ever touched."

.

Reine heard sobbing and the shower running. She got up to the landing with all the bedrooms and her eyes widened when she saw Jade's body on the floor. She ran to her and quickly checked her pulse. Her skin was clammy and cold and she was a pale hue. "Jade!?" she whispered furiously. _This couldn't be! If Jade was dead her body would not be this cold so fast within minutes!_ "Jade!" Reine slapped her face a few times. "Jade, no, please, wake up!" She feared the blood poisoning was playing a factor as well. She opened her mouth and breathed into her and then began to pump her chest a couple of times. She did her best to remain calm but her adrenaline was making her push on the chest harder than she should.

All of the sudden from the bathroom came a loud cry, sobbing and pleading. As if hearing her, Jade's eyes sprang open and gasped in a loud breath. Reine swiftly and carefully pulled Jade into a hug. "Oh thank god!" Jade's eyes rolled around the room, "C-cat…" she managed to choke out after a few seconds. Reine gently placed Jade back on the floor and sprinted towards the bathroom where Cat was, now feeling so much better that Jade was alright.

She busted the bathroom door open and stared shocked at what was happening inside. Tufts of brown hair were all over the bathroom sink and she heard a slight buzzing noise in the corner where the shower was. "Tom!" Reine shouted. Tom spun around with the razor in his hand, his head shaved bald and a maniacal look in his eyes.

"Oh god, you finally snapped," Reine breathed out. She looked over and saw Cat was hiding behind him, eyes red from crying and half of her head was shaved. "Cat…" she asked carefully, "Did he hurt you?"

Cat sobbed out loud, "He killed Jade!" Reine slowly approached the two. "Jade's fine, Cat, she'll be fine. Tom, what the hell are you doing?" she seethed through her teeth, trying to keep cool and collected; this was not the time to panic. She swallowed hard, "Let go of Cat."

"No," he said simply as if she was asking him to share.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Jade deserved what she got!"

"I hate you!" Cat cried. "I will never ever go back to you! You'll have to kill me too!" Tom spun around to face her, in that moment Reine lunged and wrapped her arms around his neck, yanking him back, strangling him. "Knock it off!" she yelled in his ear. "You are done here!"

Tom retaliated and used the razor on Reine's forehead on an angle, cutting her. She still didn't let go and pulled him to the ground in a wrestling heap, wrapping her legs around his back to pin him down. "Cat! Run!"

Cat wasted no time, she bolted out of the room but turned around when Reine was slammed against the marble countertop sink and bashed her head into the mirror. Tom lunged to his feet and stumbled towards Cat, grabbing her by the remaining long hair as she tried to run. He held her pressed up against him, using her as a shield. He backed away and held the Taser to Cat's neck, threatening Reine if she got closer that he would tase the defenseless girl.

With blood covering half of her face, Reine stalked them slowly. "You're sick Tom. Disgusting piece of filth I have ever seen. The cops are on their way. There's no way we're letting you out of this house." Reine said as she slowly inched her way closer to them. "Stay calm Cat," she soothed at the chest heaving girl. "You'll be fine, just stay calm."

"I don't think you're in any position to try to stop me," Tom hissed, arm gripping Cat's waist roughly, backing up, not even sure where he was going in this house maze of rooms.

Reine shook her head, "I think you're confused about whose girl you have in your arms."

Tom snarled, "Is that so? Other than mine, whose?" Instantly his body jerked back, eyes wide.

Without warning, Jade had suddenly impaled his spine with her dagger. "Mine," she hissed in his ear. Tom's body went slack and he released Cat who immediately ran out of his reach and Reine reached out to hug her to her for safety. Cat buried her face in Reine's coat then looked over her shoulder to see Tom collapse backwards onto the floor, twitching and shivering, eyes wide and his mouth starting to drool.

"Jadey..." Cat whimpered. Jade swayed to her feet, clutching the wall to support herself, one bloody hand extended to her, "Cat… you're safe … Reine …" She made it two steps, swayed heavily to the left and finally toppled backwards, watching the world spin in front of her and a flash of red hair that cascaded over her face, hearing Cat's screams like echoes in the darkness.

"Jade! Hold on!"

.


	30. Chapter 30

_"If they asked you, have you lived your life, have you?"_

Jade swallowed hard, blinking many times trying to make out where she was. She was lying on her back on the floor of a dark place, surrounded in darkness that had no substance. The only thing she could see was her luminous skin giving off light. She couldn't move anything except blink her clear eyes. The voice she was hearing was all around her. Just like when she was smashing the mirrors, that same voice came back.

_"Jade? You need to answer me truly. This actually depends on your life. You only get one answer so try not to waste your breath." _The voice suddenly zeroed in to her left ear, _"Have you lived your life?"_

Jade swallowed three more times as if trying to breathe, she finally opened her mouth but nothing came out. Slowly, sticky vines of black molasses snaked from the floor and spiraled up onto her limbs, enveloping her, slowly shutting away the glow from her skin. _"Jade."_

Her limbs were tightened to her sides and she began to feel the numbness crawling up her body, reaching her chest and face. The vines slowly covered her eyes like a blindfold. _"Jade."_

She opened her mouth again and a vine creeped inside as if tasting her. Her heart started to slow its beat and she felt her breath start to catch and gasp. "…no," she uttered.

_Jade?_

She tried again, "…No!"

_Jade!_

The slime reached the back of her throat and she gagged on it, she opened her eyes wide under the slime and screamed as loud as she could with every muscle in her body. "NOOOO!"

.

_"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"_

_"There was a break in and my friend is badly injured! Please you need to send an ambulance quick! She has head trauma and a severe condition of sepsis and the assailant electrocuted her with a Taser! She went into cardiac arrest but I performed CPR on her and she was up but fainted again and now she's not responding! We caught the assailant and he's in pretty bad shape too! I need you to hurry! Please!"_

_"Is she breathing?"_

_"Y-Yes. Yes! She's breathing, just won't wake up!"_

_"We'll send help right away. Please give me your address."_

.

Flashing lights, blaring sirens, blurred faces, screaming voices and blood everywhere had made Cat faint and was also taken away in a separate ambulance while Reine rode with Jade, holding her cold hand. The medics fussed over Reine's cut forehead all the while she kept insisting they look after Jade.

Once at the hospital, Reine heard screaming from the other ambulance. Cat had woken up to see that it wasn't a nightmare and real life. She was bawling and screaming that she wanted to be with Jade. Reine caught her and held her tightly, trying to calm her. Cat kept struggling and fighting and eventually got loose. She ran fast after the receding gurney carrying away the love of her life. Security guards and other nurses tried to catch her but she slipped past all of them.

She screamed Jade's name seeing her limp pale body quickly being rushed to emergency and disappear through the swinging doors. There, a doctor and a few male nurses, caught her and tried to carry her kicking and shouting back towards the waiting room. "Ma'am please!"

They threatened to kick them both outside if Cat didn't calm down, that she was upsetting the patients. Reine clutched Cat, telling her to calm down, caressing and stroking her back. "Cat! Jade's gonna be okay now, they got her, they'll help her. Please, you need to calm down. They'll kick us out if you don't calm down right now!"

Cat stopped screaming and instead hid her face in Reine's chest, hugging back tightly. "Oh my god…"

.

Tori had texted Cat earlier and no reply. She supposed because it was late. Reine's sudden visit had left a big question. Wondering if she had other intentions, what did she mean disappear with Tom? She quickly shook her head for thinking that Reine had dishonest intentions. The recurring words of Reine's confession about falling in love with Jade was a surprise and sad at the same time. Even though they were years apart, no one could ever help who they fall in love with.

Tori sighed being unable to sleep. It neared 6 am and she decided to play a song on the keyboard. Andre left it behind so that when he came by he could play if he ever got inspired. He told her once long ago that being with her inspired him to write the latest hits on his demo CD. She smiled at the thought of Andre, being such a caring, gentle guy. She loved it when he would hug her when he was happy or when she was sad. _Maybe he was the reason why kissing Beck didn't feel right? _

She sat on the stool and hit a key and let it play out. She began to sing as she played the keys. There was a knock on her door and she beckoned them in.

Her mother came inside, wrapping her arms around her waist, yawning. "Hey, honey, are you okay? You're not usually up at this hour… all ready for school?" she seemed confused as to why Tori was already dressed. "Trouble… sleeping?"

Tori shook her head and yawned.

"You haven't slept?"

"Nooo…" Tori turned towards the keyboard again.

"Everything okay?" her mom prompted, coming closer. Tori looked up slowly. "Juuuust waiting for dad to get up."

"Your dad hasn't come home yet. He was on his way home last night but there was an emergency in the area and he had to pull overtime. You sure you're okay?"

Tori furrowed her eyebrows, "Oh man, I hope it's not too serious."

Her mom shrugged, "He'll let us know."

.

Reine and Cat had spent the entire night answering officer's questions about the situation. They had defended themselves in self defense against Tom. When they asked how they knew each other they explained every detail. Officer Vega was quite interested in Cat's case. He had seen her come over often to hang out with Tori, from what he gathered she was an airy, bubbly redhead. But right now she was a sobbing mess. Half her head shaven, makeup running, cuts on her legs and she would not stop crying. He kept trying to calm her down, she did finally when she realised he was Tori's dad. She hugged him and wouldn't let go. He patted her back and looked over at his comrades. "These girls have been through a lot, we should take them home. They should rest and give us a testimony later today."

"I really think you should question us while it's fresh in our minds," Reine said almost glowering.

Vega stood up and put his hands on his hips. "You're just a bunch of kids. This is very hard to swallow. None of you should be going through this and besides you're all very emotional and tired. Neither of you are making any sense. I need you to rest up and collect your thoughts and start this over again."

Reine chastised herself mentally, chewing her bottom lip.

"I won't leave Jade!" Cat sprang to her feet and ran in front of Vega, so he paid attention to her. "She needs me! I'm not going home until I find out if she's going to be okay!"

Vega sighed and motioned for one of his comrades to get details on Jade. Vega then patted Cat's head. "We'll get you a counselor as soon as we get details about this situation. We promise we'll solve this."

Reine was looking in their direction but her ears were on the other officer who was talking to the head nurse. "Reine!"

Cat had been calling her a few times and finally Reine drew her attention back to them. "Yes?"

Another nurse was apparently calling for her and Cat had finally yelled out her name. Reine bolted to her feet and hurriedly went over to the nurse. Cat began to follow but the nurse stopped her saying only Reine was needed. Reine looked back at Cat and nodded at her sympathetically then followed the nurse. Cat stayed back, biting her lower lip in concern.

Reine was pulled aside to a corner and was shown a chart full of medical history. Reine only nodded and answered in short words. She showed the nurse her ID and was finally allowed inside the waiting area where patients were placed after surgery. She approached a certain cot slowly, making her feet light as if sneaking up on a scary sleeping creature. He was hooked up to all kinds of machinery, his head bandaged and tubes going in and out of his throat. She got up close and took a hold of his hands gently, careful not to bother the I.V. She scanned him over, eyes furrowing in worry.

"Shit, Tom…How did it get this bad …" she whispered hoarsely, fighting back tears. "This is all my fault." She leaned over and kissed his forehead. "I'm so sorry for all of this." She raised her eyes to the heart monitor and glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone was coming. She got up and carefully closed the door.

.

Cat was allowed to see Jade for a few minutes in order to calm her down, once they had her stabilised for a few hours and saw it safe to have a moment to have a visitor. Once she was left alone she covered her mouth to suppress a sob. There lay the girl who defied everything that came across her path, hooked up to monitors and I.V. Cat slowly approached her and the tears came again. She carefully took a hold of her hand and leaned over to peck the girl on the cheek. "Jade?" she whispered softly. Jade's skin was paler than usual, making her fresh scars pucker a light purple color. She glanced up at the beeping heart monitor; steady. She looked back down at her again and caressed her cheek with the back of her hand.

Just then a nurse knocked gently and walked in. "Miss Valentine? It's time for you to leave now." Cat nodded and looked back at Jade's face again. "I'll be back tomorrow," she said softly. She leaned over and kissed her lips ever so gently and pulled away. Glancing every once in a while until she exited the room. Cat stopped after the door was closed behind her. "Will you please call me when she wakes up?" she handed the nurse a piece of paper with her number on it. The nurse smiled gently. "Of course."

Cat nodded, pressed her lips in a tight smile and quickly scurried off out of her sight.

Vega was waiting to take her home. As she got into the police car, she realized Reine was nowhere to be seen. She asked about her and he simply said that Reine was here on her own time and that Cat's parents were in a panic to have her home. No longer having the strength to argue, Cat sat back and watched the hospital disappear gradually from sight. Eventually she dozed off from exhaustion.

.

Tori was the first one to knock on the door furiously and adamantly. "Cat!" she called over and over, trying the door knob, finding it locked. She tried calling her cell, her house phone and tried yelling her name under her bedroom window. No response. She ran her hands through her hair in worry, not knowing what else to do, furiously texting everyone she knew. She hadn't slept the whole night and when her father came home in the morning telling her check up on her friend later, looking grim. Instantly Tori had grabbed her jacket and ran out before her dad could explain. She didn't have to hear who it was, she automatically knew.

But Cat wasn't answering. Jade then ran to her car and peeled out of the driveway and gunned the engine, roaring down the road to the next option. The perimeter was surrounded by cops and police tape. She slammed her brakes in shock and horror. "Oh my god…" she exhaled. She got out of the car and approached the building. A police officer stopped her. "I'm sorry miss, this is off limits. You'll need to find another way around."

She crossed her arms, eyes on the house. "I'm Tori Vega. My dad is Officer Vega and this is my friend Jade's house. Is she okay? What happened?"

"Vega huh?" he raised his eyebrows and beckoned another cop forward. The other cop who was her father's partner in most of his cases approached her. She smiled warily. "Coffee?" he offered her. She knew she was going to be interrogated. She told them all she knew, including Tom and how the three of them had a rocky thing going on. She sipped her coffee carefully, trying to keep alert.

"That's a scary love triangle… What do you know about … Reine?"

Tori shook her head, "Not much… But she's a friend. And she's left for New York already." He jotted down notes and nodded with careful understanding. He then stopped and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Left?"

"Yea. She got on a plane last night to go to New York," she frowned at his facial expression. "Thank you for your time Tori," he said with a nod and walked off to talk to another standing officer. Tori whirled around to face the house again. There was broken glass everywhere. Jade's bedroom glass sliding doors were smashed. An intrusion according to the officers and when she heard who was involved in the tussle her blood ran cold. By the sounds of it Jade and Tom had gotten into an argument and both had retaliated violently towards each other. That didn't sound right… Something must've happened.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" another officer piped in. Tori swore under her breath and gave a heavy sigh. Well she was halfway there already, she was awake and clearly there was nothing else she could do. She returned to her car feeling heavily unaccomplished. She slid into the seat and pressed her forehead to the wheel. These two were going to be the death of her.

.

"Tori! You look like death!" Robbie suddenly blurted out. "You okay?"

Beck offered his coffee to her and rubbed her back. Tori took it gratefully and nodded. "If only that." Andre shrugged his bag onto his shoulders and checked around him nervously. "There are a lot of rumors going on. About the five of you."

"Five?" Tori gave them all a quizzical look. "How do they know any of it?"

"One of the students of H.A's dad is a cop that likes to shoot his mouth off," Beck replied with a scowl. His grip on her shoulder made her realize he had discovered something they should have told him long ago. She had wanted to so many times but when did she ever get the time? It was always one thing after another. She inhaled sharply and tentatively asked them what they had heard. "That someone may have died and that the cops are all over the case…" Andre began when without warning a loud chipper voice came from behind them. They parted like the red sea to reveal a smiling Cat.

"Who's dead?" she asked, now her smile gone and her eyes full of concern. They all stared.

"Cat…" Robbie squeaked upon seeing her. Cat's eyes enlarged, grabbing at her face. "**_I'm_** dead?!"

"You're here!" Tori exclaimed and hugged the redhead tightly. Cat's confused look faded, smiled again and hugged back."Yaaaay!"

Tori slowly pulled away, staring at the left side of Cat's head. While her right side had beautiful flowing red hair, her entire left side was shaved. It looked amateurish and hasty. She was afraid to ask. "Uhm, I like… your haircut…"

"Thanks! Tom did a great job!" Suddenly Cat's eyes went opaque and blood drained from her face and she swayed to the left a little.

"Cat!" Tori caught her but it was Beck who lifted her up. _Always the knight in armor._ Cat reacted by clinging to him, hiding her face in his chest, gripping his collar and shaking.

.

Cat refused to go to the nurse's office and wouldn't let go of Beck. So he took her to the library to sit on the couch with her legs across his lap, her face still pressed into his chest. He rubbed her back while a million questions swarmed his head. Cat felt his unease.

"Are you mad at me?" she asked timidly without looking up. Beck pursed his lips and shook his head, lowering it to meet hers, closing his eyes. "How can you not be mad at me…?" she whispered. He gripped her back firmly and hugged her to him tightly but gently. "I'm not mad," he replied softly.

"I'd be mad," Cat breathed out. Beck smiled. "Do you want me to be?" She shook her head. He gazed over her head, resting his chin on her. He sighed heavily. "I just wish you girls could trust me… I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong… I can help. I could've helped." He rubbed the back of her neck gently and when she started sobbing into his shirt, he closed both arms around her firmly and let her cry.

.

_**A/N: I am so sorry this update took so long. There was just a lot of ... nothing going on. I debated on posting this chapter. I'm not 110% sure I'm happy with it. But then I saw that just mulling it over also was going nowhere. So here we are. I was actually sad writing this and reading it over ... maybe it was the song I was listening to at the time... *rubs head* anyways, thanks guys for reading my stuff. I hope I can keep up with the updates a lot easier now. THANKS SO MUCH~! **_


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